Dreams of Phantoms, Paradoxes and Time
by PrplZorua
Summary: A bunch of drabbles based on any ideas you guys give me. Chapt 42- Choice: Dan Phantom had a choice to make, but either way... He'd die. Disclaimer:I do NOT own Danny Phantom.
1. Waking up

****AN/: Sorry it's been forever, but I had a good excuse, one other than the hell that is college, I got into a boating accident. Good news is, I now know I can swim 20 miles to shore with one good leg, bad news is, right after I healed up I had to jump right in to school, I will get back to Hunger and my RC9GN fics, buuut those were in my computer when it crashed, so yeah life, for now I'm posting this with my phone and I will continue to do so until, I get my computer back so I can update chapter 8 of Hunger. Since that's probably not gonna happen anytime soon, I decided to write something so y'all don't think I'm dead. XD****

 ** **So without further a due ,**** ** _adue, ado? how do you even spell that?_**

 ** **Anyway Enjoy and Review****

 ** **DISCLAIMER: I do not own Danny Phantom****

* * *

Clockwork woke up. Wait, he had fallen asleep? Huh, go figure.

Looking around where he was, he smiled a bit. He was on his bed in his room.

For the most part, his headaches had calmed a bit. He still got small twinges of pain every now and again, but at least it was manageable. Brushing off remnants of sleep he slowly sat up.

Confused on how he first got in his bed, he tried to think back.

 _ _What exactly happened?__

It took a moment then it hit him, __quite literally__ , many visions flashed across his mind's eye and he fell backwards with a yelp.

Now he remembered.

 ** _ **God that hurt.**_**

"Ah, your awake took you long enough, but in my opinion, you could still use a little more sleep,don't you think?"

Clockwork was inclined to agree with him, after all his body felt quite sore.

"That was very brave what you did there, quite heroic. I'm starting to think your charge is rubbing off on you."

Clockwork rolled his eyes at the Dream ghost.

"There outside waiting for you by the way."

Crimson eyes widened.

"Don't worry, they're fine, though you did give them quite a scare."

* * *

"How long?"

 _Nocturne contemplated the question for a bit. Usually Clockwork would know exactly how much time has and will pass, it didn't matter if he was conscious or not, he must have gotten hit quite hard,_ _ _or it could be the pain meds, that would work too.__

"About 2 hours, I think", came the Dream Master's tentative reply.

"They came in a bit later than me, I had enough time to bandage you up and everything."

For the first time Clockwork looked down and realized he was covered in bandages, a brief wince flashed across his face when the pain caught up to him.

 _Nocturne watched as his friend looked down seemingly noticing the bandages for the first time,_ ** _ _yup__ _ _,__ _ _no doubt about it, definitely the pain meds.__**

"The whole zone's talking about you, the fabled Master of Time and how he saved them all from those terrible beasts."

Nocturne had said this with so much false charisma and air quotes, that Clockwork had to chuckle.

"When I heard this, I was like Clockwork coming out of the tower? Impossible!"

Clockwork once again, rolled his eyes at his dramatic friend.

"Now imagine my surprise, to hear that you were fighting, even more so to hear what you were fighting and how many."

Nocturne's tone turned sour.

* * *

"You know when I said heroic and brave, I meant ****stupid,**** I mean really, you could've asked for help you know!"

"And who exactly, could I have asked?"

Nocturne composed himself with a half straggled sigh.

"Yeah, yeah you're right, but sometimes I don't know what am I going to do with you."

The Dream ghost shook his head with a small sigh even though he was trying to berate Clockwork, he still had a small smile.

 _Honestly what the hell am I going to do with you?_

"So, you going to say hi to your charges or are you gonna wait till they fall through the door?"

A tilted head and a raised eyebrow was his reply.

Nocturne rolled his eyes, and opened the door.

The second he did that, a trio of Phantoms sprawled onto the floor, a true blur of black and white.

Dani and Danny had the decency to look sheepish, but their faces were scrunched under each other with Dan splat on top of them, they just looked plain __squished__.

Clockwork blinked, and instantly his shoulders started to shake, a loud bell like laughter erupted from him and it took a second for the trio on the floor to realize that the child like sound was coming from the bandaged Time Master on the bed.

Clockwork's laughter eventually died down when he started with a bit of a coughing fit. He was still chuckling even though he would wince every now and in between.

"I hope that hurts like hell, jackass."

* * *

"Aww, Dan you do care."

"I do not!"

Clockwork shook his head, amused at the large phantom's denial, or maybe it was the greenish blush on the paradox's face, either way, he was amused.

Dani phased through and floated above the older phantoms, who for some reason stayed on the floor, and moved ever so tentivley near the injured ghost.

Clockwork looked at her and smiled, he held his arms open and Danielle quickly enveloped him in a side hug, her original followed a mere second later.

 _The hug was light, but Clockwork could feel his charges' shaking,_ _ _he really did scare them.__

* * *

"I suppose you want a hug too, Dan?"

"Very funny Old man, almost give us a core attack and then laugh it off? No thanks".

"Now, now, we know that wasn't his intention even though **_**it did happen**_** , let's just be thankful that were all here, right?!"

Nocturne's statement seemed to calm them all down for the moment.

"Now you all can ask him what exactly happened, just go easy on him, he's kinda groggy with the pain killers".

"I am not!"

 _ _"em pots ot noitidnoc ron noitisop non ni era uoy llew yrev wonk hcuot dna tuo uoy kconk ot gniog m'I,retfa peels ot og neht won snoitseuq rieht rewsna uoy rehtie ,yadot htiw laed ot tihs hguone dah I dna srellikniap no kcuf sa hgih era uoY__ _"_ _ _,__ growled out Nocturne.

Clockwork huffed, but said nothing.

"What language was that?!"asked Dani.

"An ancient one child, it was one our mentors would use on us, when they wanted to scold us."

"so you were scolding Clockwork?!"quarried the mini Phantom.

Nocturne nodded slowly, clearly confused by the child's question.

* * *

Dani in turn mock pouted and hugged herself more to Clockwork , "leave clocky alone, he's been through enough today".

With Dani acting like a small black/white shield, Clockwork couldn't resist his inner immaturity and stuck his tongue out Nocturne.

The Dream Master of course wanting to retaliate was stopped short by Dani's glare.

 _"_ _ _ouy niw siht dnuor, ouy dratsab"__ ,remarked Nocturne, but it was good natured seeing as he was smiling.

"Thank you for shielding Danielle".

"Happy to help, Clocky".

"Looks like Dani saved you an ear full huh, Clockwork?" Asked an amused Danny.

His voice then grew thick, "But if it's the same to you, what the heck happened today?"

* * *

 ** _ **AN/:**_** OK cliffhanger not the best but eh, anyway the words Nocturne was scolding CW were just backwards and they are below:

 _"_ _ _You are high as fuck on painkillers and I had enough shit to deal with today, either you answer their questions now then go to sleep after, or I'm going to knock you out and you know very well you are in no position nor condition to stop me."__

 _"_ _ _You win this round, bastard."__

Another thing, this is going to be a series of drabbles based on what you guys want, give me a request, even if it's one word and I'll try to fit it on here.

:) love yall!


	2. The Switch

****AN/: This one's to Dark reven, hope you like it. :)****

 ** **Enjoy and Review****

 ** **DISCLAIMER: I do not own Danny Phantom****

* * *

It had started off as a relatively good day, but then again shit tends to happen on relatively good days.

Clockwork had left- _ _more like got dragged__ off to a meeting with the Observants and the rest of the ghost council.

The poor guy looked __so exhausted,__ that even Dan felt sorry for him, well, maybe, just a little bit, when he was trudging forward while they pulled him by his hand, yeah then and only then he felt sorry for the Ticking bastard.

I mean he didn't even bother to protest, maybe he was too tired to?

Maybe the Observants are assholes who didn't let the poor guy speak before carting them away? Maybe-?!

"What the hell am I thinking?" Muttered the paradox to himself.

"Since when do I give a flying fuck about Clockwork?"Bloody bastard's getting under my skin.

"Argh!"There's nothing to do here!" Shouted Dan Phantom, as he paced back and forth angrily.

He stopped.

"Or is there?" A wicked grin split across his face.

* * *

 _ _"Now the war had taken a total of three years but-"__

"Ugh!"groaned a young Danny Fenton as he sunk into his seat. Looking up through thick locks, at the small clock on the wall, half an hour to go.

Danny was __dying__ , but no one seemed to notice, they were either completely immersed in their work or in a daydream like stupor. Danny rolled his eyes and slouched further onto the desk, arms folded under his head, for as much comfort as it could give.

The history teacher's voice droned on in the back ground.

"Why do I even have to learn about this anyway" Thought Danny to himself ,"it's not like I'm going to that country anytime soon."

History was one of the few classes, that Sam nor Tucker where in with him, he _truly hated_ the new semester schedule.

It wasn't like he hated history per say, it's just that he had his own history teacher, one __way__ better than this guy.

Danny looked down at his blank notebook.

Hmm, maybe he should write the topic down and ask __his__ History teacher for help?

Yeah, that was a good plan, he would definitely learn something then.

But first, a nap.

He was simply storing up energy needed for the flight to the ghost zone, what could go wrong?

* * *

Apparently...

A lot.

 _Danny was now trapped in Dan's body and vice versa, to make matters worse, the impending doom that was Clockwork would be there in an hour and the entire Citadel was in a mess, they were screwed, no they were_ ** _ **beyond screwed.**_**

How this came to be, you may ask?

* * *

Well, Dan decided to take a little trip into the back of the Citadel, knowing very well that leaving would cause Clockwork to blow a gasket.

But since Clockwork won't let him out, to destroy some of the many realms of the ghost zone, well he just decided to destroy some of the many things in the Citadel as recompense.

Excited by the idea of destroying some stuff, Dan easily found his way to the large backrooms. There were shelves filled with stopwatches, weird marked stones, sundials and another useless time based junk.

There were also some weird figured shaped things, that didn't look time based at all. One looked like an infinity sign with a rose sprouting from it, another looked like a tornado made of glass.

He picked it up it felt smooth and strangely cold, his eyes then rested upon the final figure, well, it was the last figure that grabbed his interest.

It was strange, but it seemed to be calling him and being ever so curious he picked it up. Bewitched by the seemingly enchanted item, he completely for got about the tornado figure in his hands.

He forgot about it, that is, until it smashed and splintered on the floor. True to its shape, a massive tornado sprouted up from the remnants of the glass. Its winds were so wild that it practically tore down some of the shelves and even removed some of the cogs in the Tower.

Dan was having a blast, the wind whipped about his flaming hair and he couldn't help but smile in sadistic glee, __ah destruction.__

He wondered what other forces of destruction Clockwork had in there, but the mess discouraged him from digging to find more items, besides he still had one in his hands.

"Time to see, what this baby can do." Dan raised his hand above his head and that was around the time, when Danny came in. Seeing the giant mess made and noticing that Dan was going to break a figure in his hands, he quickly reach out to stop it.

 ** **FLASH!****

* * *

Both males found themselves furiously rubbing their eyes, they blinked but their vision was still hazy.

Something was wrong.

Danny noticed it first, his body felt bulky? His balance was off, wasn't he on the ground in the first place? Dan noticed it second, he was on his feet, he knew that much but wait, was he crouched? He felt short, real short and since when was he ever this scrawny?

He was taller.

He was too small.

His balance was way off and since when was he so buff?

And when was he ever this weak?

Both males looked at each other...

and screamed.

* * *

"God damn it Dan, this is why you don't mess around with Clockwork's stuff!"

Danny, in Dan's body, was having a full blown panic attack. While Dan in Danny's body was laughing like a maniac.

"This is not good, this is __so__ not good", mumbled Danny as he paced around the small area that wasn't covered with broken stuff. Dan continued to cackle.

"Why the hell, are you laughing?"

"Because now, I can destroy everything and blame this on you!" The laughter returned at full force.

"Oh please, you wouldn't do that."

"Oh, and why is that?" Replied Dan, pulling a smirk that made Danny's childlike features, look sinister.

"Because I'll tell Clockwork-"

"So, I'm not afraid of the Old man."

"Maybe not, but your afraid of dying and you know that since you're a time anomaly, Clockwork could destroy you with a snap of his fingers, it's the reason you're behaving and the only reason he let you out in the first place, your just a dog on a leash."

Whatever hopes Danny had of fazing the elder Phantom, were shot down with a smirk.

"You're talking quite big there kid, what makes you think, that you're getting out of this unscathed?"

Danny raised a brow.

"Clock's going to be quite mad when he sees this mess, he should be here soon and the first person he will blame, is you."

"And why is that?"

"Because you look like me."

Dan's-well Danny's eyes widened.

"I bet, there's about an hour before that Council meeting is over and we know that Clockwork's a questions first, kill later, kind of asshole, so we just clean up this mess and try to fix ourselves before he comes back, if not we clean this mess up anyway and pray the ticking bastard helps us, deal?"

"Why?" Asked Danny sceptically.

"Because as much as I love wrecking things, I hate this body more."

"l- fine, deal."

They shook hands and began to work. Moving shelves picking up rubbish and broken glass and moving things that weren't broken to one side, eventually they cleared up a good path, but there time was running out.

Dan being curious as always, found a snow globe like figure in the wreckage, the funny thing about the figure was that it wasn't scratched at all, in fact it looked perfectly whole, just a little dusty. The inside of the glass dome Dan could not see, so he rubbed it, but it slipped...

and fell.

 ** **FLASH!****

* * *

Everything, was back to normal?

Well, not really, they were still trapped in each other's body, but at least the place was clean.

Dan looked down, the figure was back in his hand again, the symbol inside it was a reverse arrow. He couldn't help but laugh.

"That thing, could have saved us so much time!" shouted Danny exasperatedly.

Dan kept laughing, until there was a flash of blue light.

* * *

Clockwork came home to see, what looked like Dan Phantom, with his arms up as if he were under arrest and Danny Phantom, mid laugh, holding on of his reversal mechanisms.

"I can explain!" Came the simultaneous response from the Phantoms.

Clockwork sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose, "This is exactly why, I should not go to a Council meeting when I'm sleep deprived."

"No need, that device your holding Dan, is made from my energy, I know when and why-", he glared at them, "it was used."

"So, can you fix us?"Asked Danny.

"The figure you two touched, is one that has been used for many years, it switches two people, that need to understand each other. However, because __some people will try to ruin each others lives,"__ he glared at Dan, " it stopped being used, though it still works the same, so until you walk a mile in each other's shoes, so to speak, the process won't be undone."

The switched Phantoms stared at him.

The Time Master, face palmed.

"Basically, until you two can make nice and understand each other, then you get your bodies back capiche?"

They nodded.

"Good."

With that Clockwork turned and headed up to his quarters, in truth, the effect of the switch would wear off with in 24 hours, but he wasn't going to tell them that, if this would get them to stop squabbling every minute, he'll take the quite that came with it.

For now though, he would sleep, he could already feel a headache forming. The second he closed his eyes, they snapped open.

"Clockwork, Dan hit me!"

"The brat was breathing on me!"

"I was not!"

"Yes you wer-

 _Clockwork put a pillow over his head to muffle the noise,_ ** _ **hello headache.**_**

* * *

 ** **AN/: And that's 'The Switch', send me some more requests and I'll read 'em and right 'em tomorrow, I got Calculus, Biology and Chem Hw to start, I feel like CW, I need sleep XD****


	3. Distractions pt1

**AN:/ sorry for the wait, I had a hellacious 2 weeks, but hey, that's college for ya , had a bout of 2 am inspiration and it lead to this, so with out further ado, _adue? Still don't know how to spell that_ XD**

 **Anyway Enjoy and Review**

 **DISCLAIMER: I do not own Danny Phantom**

* * *

Distractions pt1: Hair

It was one of those _very few_ days where Clockwork, did not have to work.

So the day found him lounging in the couch, reading in his personal library, Danielle with him and of course she was playing with his hair.

"Yes?" quarried the Time Master, words slightly muffled from behind the pages of a large green book.

"Hmn?"

"Is there something you need?"

"Uh, no, why?"

"Because, when you found me, the first thing you did, was ask if you could play with my hair, you've been playing with my hair for the past few minutes without a single word and there's that expression on your face, you want something don't you?"

 _"Well"_ , she couldn't deny it, "yes and no".

"oh?" An elegant a eyebrow was raised with that response.

"C-can I borrow one of your watches?"

She was floating beside him now, looking sheepish, even though she had her hands in, her ministrations in his hair had long stopped.

"why?"

"Cause I need to tell time."

He sighed, "very well, here," he took one of the watches off his left glove and handed it to her.

"Is that all?"

She nodded, carefully adjusting the watch to her wrist.

"are you sure?"

"yep", she replied popping the 'p'

"really now, that's all you came for?"

"Yea- Actually," she paused for a bit, _seemingly_ in deep thought, "actually no, I almost forgot, Uncle Noccy, he told me to come check something".

"Uncle?"

"Yep, he's always wanted to be an uncle, said that since you were like his brother, all he had to do was wait till you **_stepped up_** -"

"Did he really tell you this?"

"Uhuh!" the tiny phantom nodded, braiding the white locks, once more.

"Hnn, still, uncle?"

"Well, your like his brother and I'm _technically_ your charge, and since you haven't ' **stepped up** ', according to him", she added with air quotes, "you can't give him a niece or nephew to spoil, so I'm the next best thing, of course if you ever _do_ step up to this mystery person, I'm magically promoted to aunt!"

Clockwork chuckled at that, attention finally drawn away from the book.

"Besides as his niece, I have another place to crash if I ever need to".

"Oh really? That makes what, four now?"

"Five actually".

The book was placed on his lap, as he sent his tiny charge, a questioning glance.

Dani huffed. "Danny, Sam, You, Nocturne and Dora".

"Ah", he nodded, "you know Dorathea?"

"Yeah, she's really nice, she helped me out a few times, and I even helped keep thieves away from her markets, but wait, how do you know Dora?"

Dani had slowed her braiding to look at him in genuine curiosity.

"Hmm, thinking back", he started (Dani with him, braiding locks as the story was told), "the first time I met her, was about a quite a few eons ago, she had saved me, and Nocturne by proxy, but I was a bit more in trouble than he was".

"Wait, you, in trouble? I almost find that hard to believe. What were you doing, Meddling again?"

 _Well_ , yes and no.

He looked smug, _he's getting back at me with my own words, well played._

"Haha, very funny."

Clockwork had to chuckle at her dead paned expression and he faux monotone voice.

"Yes, because it was essential to the timeline and no because we were allowed to".

"so basically like, back then you were allowed to mess around."

A nod.

"cool!"

The temporal ghost shrugged, "sometimes".

The Phantom raised a brow, "wait, why did Nocturne go with you?"

"You are aware, that you _can_ die in your sleep, yes?

"oh"

"Exactly, see while I control time and space by default, Nocturne controls dreams and sleep, more importantly the subconscious parts of your psyche".

She looked a bit lost, so he diverted, "ever heard of sleep paralysis?"

she nodded.

"yeah, that's his fault, he can be a real bastard sometimes, I swear".

she giggled at that, if the time ghost could mutter insults at the Dream Master like that, then they were really like brothers.

* * *

"So, how exactly did you and Dora meet, I mean, how did she save you?"

"Well you see, Nocturne and I had a mission, if you want to call it that, in another dimension, one which was quite close to Ghost Zone".

"While we were fighting," he saw her mouth open, "because yes, this was a time of war", her mouth closed and she glared at the smug temporal ghost.

"let me guess, you're the one who got hurt, _bad_."

"Yes but it wasn't exactly like that, see our mission, was to clear out the dimension, we had to get rid of these giant banshee like creatures."

Dani's eyes widened with interest, but her hands did not still from their task and Clockwork did not seem to mind.

"These creatures were very dangerous and quite frankly much of a pain, they destroyed everything and anything in their path, so you see why we had to get rid of them, we were almost done with the dimension, the entire thing, it was about the size of-of ..."

Clockwork paused thinking of a place in which Danielle could relate to, snapping his fingers, when he figured one out, "it was roughly the size of the far frozen mashed together with Nocturne's abode".

B-but, those places are huge!" Sputtered the girl in surprise, well as surprised as someone who was still braiding hair, could seem.

"Exactly".

"and the two of you did that?"

"yes"

"Woah!"

Clockwork chuckled, "woah indeed, when we had finished we were exhausted- no- _beyond_ exhausted. we had thought we were finished, but that was until one of the creatures that was on the ground, which we had assumed was dead, got up and was going to attack Nocturne, of course I noticed it and pushed him out of the way, but what I didn't know was there was one more behind me".

Dani gasped, almost stopping her work, _almost_.

"It managed slice me and Nocturne pretty good, mostly me, considering I was the one pushing Nocturne down. No energy, breathing deeply, pouring ectoplasm and losing consciousness, we needed to get out there fast. The first thing we did, was jump into the first portal i opened, it just happen to be in the dragons kingdom, and specifically Dorathea's room."

Oooh, crooned Dani.

Clockwork colored slightly, "Oh hush you, nothing like that, what happened was more like a blur".

"Really?"

"Yes, when we jumped through the portal, I practically collapsed, I was losing way too much ectoplasm, I couldn't move and the portal hadn't closed yet and there is were, all hell broke loose".

* * *

The two creatures head's popped out of the portal, their claws across, stretching it open for it to stay.

They sniffed the air, their _prey_ was here.

Of course Clockwork and Nocturne were 10 feet away, but the small distance did nothing to calm their nerves and if to confirm their fear the creatures' eyes landed on them.

2 pairs of wide crimson eyes stared back in fear as the beasts pounced, rows of teeth shown in their gaping maw, ready- **_crimson eyes squeezed shut_** _..._

 **CRUNCH!**

The two ghosts on the floor, could swear that the other was dead-er _destroyed_. Assuming that they were the only one alive, they forced their eyes opened, only to see that the other was present.

 _So what stopped the- a girl!_.

The girl in Dragon form, was currently crushing one of the beasts in _her_ mighty maw and the other with her tail. The males on the floor watched in awe.

Snapping out of it, Clockwork felt the strain the portal was taking, it wouldn't hold and the dragon girl can't hold the beasts for long either.

Acting quickly he shouted, "throw them through the portal!" The dragon girl complied, and with the last of his power, he blasted a temporal pulse, the air around them seemed to reverse and the portal began to pull, the two beasts were the closest and the energy sucked them in and away to their own dimension. The portal collapsed in on itself.

That was it, they were gone and so was his energy. His body swayed, his vision swam...

He fell...

"CLOCKWORK!"

* * *

He woke up a few minutes later, **_goddamm insomnia,_** but he wasn't coherent, probably due to the ectoplasm loss, _oh well_ , he healed quickly at least. He was trying to figure out what had woken him in the first place, but his mind was too foggy.

It was dark... oh, his eyes weren't open, he had tried to open them, but they felt so heavy. He managed to peel his eyes open a smidge, not enough to really see, he couldn't focus anyway, but he was finally aware that he could hear.

..."-elp", that voice was foreign to him

..."ay" ... "ere"... he couldn't grasp it firmly, his mind was too muddled.

..."OK"... that voice he knew, Nocturne.

The other voice had left, likely leaving him and Nocturne alone, he was vaguely aware that his friend was holding him like a broken child, and that he was pressing something to his side, **_shouldn't that have hurt?_**

His body wasn't responding, he couldn't move, he couldn't even feel pain, ** _oh, this was going to hurt like hell later_**.

Nocturne, then turned his head to look him in the eye, he ran his hands through his friend's white locks, now matted green.

"That's Dorathea, she's the dragon princess of this kingdom, she's also a healer, she'll help us, but you have to be quiet, we get caught, we're ended, she said dragon's don't like trespassers".

Clockwork probably nodded, probably didn't, he wasn't sure, but he got the message clearly .

Nocturne had a way of talking to sleep deprived people and those who were about to pass out and right now he was both.

"Go to sleep, I got you".

With that said, the Time Master finally slipped into the dark of sleep.

Dora came back the second Clockwork went limp.

* * *

Dora was a healer, that was required of her Princess status and she took it with pride. She had gathered the necessary herbs she brought and lowered herself down to Clockwork, she placed them above his wounds and a bright growing green light appeared, the temporal ghost's wounds slowly started to disappear.

He eventually started to breath lightly, signifying the change from passing out, to actual sleep.

Nocturne looked to Dora, "why are you helping us?

"because I can", was her only reply with a small smile.

* * *

And that, was how I met Dorathea".

"Wow, what happened next?"

"Waking up was _fun_ , I could feel pain again, healed or not I was immensely sore, and don't forget I still barley had any energy left".

"So what did you do?"

"Well, I thanked Dorathea for her help and promised her I'd pay her back somehow, of course she declined but I did something anyway. "The second we gave our goodbyes, I teleported with Nocturne to the Citadel, I passed out after that though, Nocturne had to 'nurse' me to health for about a week"

"Seriously?"quarried the clone.

"He didn't let me live it down for two."

Dani laughed, her new uncle was quite a the _mean_ one, when ready.

* * *

During the entire story, Danielle had not once stopped playing with Clockwork's hair. She had finished braiding his hair about halfway through and now had started loosing it.

It was odd really, after the story they exchanged more stories, some of Danielle's travels, some of Clockwork's friends, the book in his lap, long forgotten.

"Hey Clock."

"Hmm?" Came a tired reply.

"How did you ever repay back Dora?"

"Oh *yawn* I helped *yawn* time move forward in her kingdom, it's why everythi*yawn* is advancing".

 _ **Huh, that makes sense.**_

"Hey, if you wanted to, could you make time visible in the Far Frozen?"

"Yes *yawn* actually, but they seem *yawn* content, so I see no poi*yawn* in changin' it".

Dani had chuckle, he was yawning in almost every sentence, and if he continued talking, his words would probably slur, she knew why, Nocturne had told her, _she still had not stopped playing in his hair._

* * *

At some point, during the stories, they had switched sides and positions, from sitting up on the left side of the couch, Clockwork was now laying down on the right side with his head on Dani's lap.

His eyes were half lidded and his muscles lax, but stubborn as ever, he was still awake.

Dani wasn't discouraged, she continued her ministrations in his hair and began to hum a tune, one she had heard Nocturne humming at his abode.

Five minutes later, and Clockwork was well on his way to nodding off, the battle he was having with his eyelids was futile.

"Clockwork?"

"Hmm?"

"Never mind."

He nodded, then...

he slipped ...

Dani watched as he nodded his head on her lap, he had turned slightly side ways, which is what she wanted, his eyed closed of their own accord when he tilted his head, he was too tired to open them, he slipped and drifted off, the only sounds were of the clocks and the Time Master's now light breathing, _**he was out.**_

Dani looked at the watch on her wrist, exactly one hour had passed, she smiled, remembering what Nocturne told her.

She actually had story time before she had come to the Citadel, as a matter of fact it was the reason she came, _the thing she had to check_.

Nocturne had told her some interesting stories and facts and such, she couldn't remember what lead to it, but it ended up a discussion about Clockwork and his odd sleeping quirks.

* * *

 ** _*Flash back*_**

"Did you know, that if you play with Clockwork's hair longer than half an hour, he'll fall asleep on you?"

"N-no way, your kidding!" A bell like laughter erupted from the girl.

"No, really, once it reaches that half an hour mark or past it, he's out, not even kidding, you could be talking to him and then, he's just gone".

At this point Dani is almost in tears.

"I'm serious, he's like a freaking cat that gets pet too much, you pet 'em and the next thing you know, there out cold on your lap, it's amusing as it is adorable".

"Your totally lying, I gotta see this for myself."

"Go for it, trust me, 30 or more and cat."

Dani just giggled as she left to the Citadel.

* _end flash back*_

* * *

About a half hour since what was dubbed **_cat_** , as Dani now called it, Nocturne and Danny came into the library.

And lo and behold, was Clockwork and Dani, asleep adorably on the couch, apparently at some point Dani had fallen asleep herself and had managed to curl onto Clockwork's side.

"Aww look at that, seems like quite a bed time story".

Danny gave a questioning glance at the Dream Ghost.

Nocturne simply pointed at the book that was (still some how) on Clockwork's lap.

 _It looked like it was a book about teeth?_ Danny shrugged to himself and silently floated over to his sleeping cousin and mentor.

"Dani", he wispered.

"Dani".

Said ghost girl, opened her eyes slowly.

"Danny?"

Phantom nodded, he reached out and turned her intangible and floated them back to a very amused looking Nocturne.

"So", started the Dream Weaver, "cat?"

Dani giggled softly, "cat".

Danny gave a look and Dani gave one that said I'll tell you later.

Diverting his attention from his cousin, he turned to Nocturne, "so what are you going to do?

"Me?" He then pointed to the Sleeping ghost with his thumb, "I'm taking him to his room, don't what to hair him complaining about a backache later".

"Alright then we're off, Jazz wants to talk to you about something Dani".

"OK", replied the girl, sleepily clinging to her elder cousin as they flew home.

Nocturne watched them leave with an amused smile, shaking his head, he focused back on his task at hand.

"Alright sleeping beauty, let's get you to bed".

* * *

 **AN:/ Nocturne be gentle! He's tired, let him have his _cat_ nap. XD**

 **Well, that's that, if you wanted to have a good idea of the creatures, think back to that one episode in Avatar the last airbender, where Aang had to deal with a banshee like thing that turned out to be a panda, yeah, on second thought, just google it XD.**

 **I love Dora, I always imagined her, CW, Nocturne and Pandora knowing each other, I wanted to write something like that, idk why but when inspiration hits, am I right?!**

 **All right guys, any ideas, requests or questions you have drop em here, im ready to write!**

 **Love ya all, see ya!**


	4. Immaturity

**AN:/ you guys are the best, I was having a pretty shitty week, but your reviews made my day, thanks. This would have been posted up yesterday but I had a biochem lab report to do and I practically passed out after. XD This one's for Sumi-Sprite.**

 **Anyway Enjoy and Review**

 **DISCLAIMER: I do not own Danny Phantom**

* * *

Immaturity

Age was supposed to equal experience, the older you were the more experience you had in your life, right?

Now if you follow the same concept, the life with the least amount of experience would mean that you were very young, _hmm?_

Well in that case, Clockwork and Nocturne, despite their age, where practically infants.

Watching and observing on the side lines, whether it were through screens or dreams, hardly counted for any _actual_ experience.

This would probably explain their immaturity and their annoying tendency to prank each other every century or so.

It was one of those centuries now.

* * *

"Remind me why, you are hanging off of me again?" Asked an exasperated Time Master as he trudged forward with one Dan Phantom hazardly thrown upon his shoulders, acting like a second cloak.

"Because all you do is work, work, work, pay attention to **_meee"_** , whined the aforementioned Phantom.

"Really, you resorted to whining now?"

"Yes, I'm tying to slow you down and stop you from working, it's 8pm man, shouldn't you only work from like 9 to 5?"

"That's a human concept Dan, ghosts need a lot less sleep and it's 8:45pm."

"It's still 8, and you need way more sleep than you like to admit, I can count on one hand the amount of times you've actually slept, since you let me out, and only lasts for 5 to 30 ish minutes, no wonder that Dream asshole calls you a cat."

"How quaint", deadpanned Clockwork.

"He's right you know, you really are like a cat, very stubborn".

"Me, a cat?" Questioned Clockwork rhetorically, "Oh please, look who's draped over me and begging for attention, between the both of us you'd be Garfield". And with that, Dan was unceremoniously shrugged off, he landed on the floor with a yelp and a loud _**THUMP!**_

"I take offense to that!"

"Good".

Clockwork stocked off.

"There you go again, right back to work", exclaimed the Phantom surly, his expression then did a 360, he smirked, "don't you know what they say about all work and no play, Clocky?"

The temporal being, simply rolled his eyes and continued his work.

"Do I have to call the Dream bastard for you, so you can stop working? 'Cause if I have to I'm dragging his starry ass here so he can knock you out".

He was expecting Clockwork to be mad, ask him why he wouldn't knock the other out _himself_ , or even get defensive, what he wasn't expecting though, was for the temporal man to turn around and laugh with a sadistic smile, honestly it scared him a bit.

"You can try, but he won't be coming, not at least till a week, when the paint finally comes off".

The Phantom stared dumbstruck, "what?"

* * *

"So let me get this straight, pink paint?"

"Yes"

"And you two do this shit every century?"

"Correct"

"So, the Dream bastard now has a pink ass?

"Along with the rest of his body, yes".

The Time Master smirked, Dan was gaping like a landed fish.

"So you- you're actually capable of pranking someone?"

Dan was still gaping, Clockwork's face fell.

"Dan if you keep gaping like a fish, I'll be entitled to tape it closed."

Dan's mouth snapped closed with an audible 'click'.

Clockwork rolled his eyes.

"No but seriously paint?"

"Yes Dan", sighed Clockwork from in front of his Time Screens, "for the fifth time, paint".

"No, I mean, why not something else, itching powder on clothes, pie to the face, false mirror?"

"No Dan, our pranks are harmless to each other, the worst we would do is stop each other from leaving our lairs for a week".

Dan pouted.

"Oh, stop pouting, and what in the world is a false mirror?"

The Phantom smirked, "Heh, wouldn't you like to know".

Clockwork sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose.

"Why don't you go to bed Dan, it's already 9:13pm".

Dan looked to the clock nearest to him, "it's 9:12".

The clock _ticked_ , Clockwork raised a smug brow.

"Ok, 9:13, fine, I'll go to bed since your chasing me".

Once more, Clockwork found himself rolling his eyes.

"What, no escort?"

The Time Master grit his teeth, "fine".

Dan smirked in triumph.

Both males walked through the halls of Clockwork's lair to Dan's room, upon reaching the guest room floor, they heard an odd sound.

* * *

A door, one that was down from Dan's very own room, was rattling as if something were moving behind it.

Dan froze, Clockwork gave him the silent 'stay put' motion, he nodded as the Time Master turned the knob.

What happened next, was both terrifying and amusing.

The second the door opened, it exploded, _not the door mind you_ , but whatever was behind it. The explosion carried such force, it blew Clockwork into the wall.

Said Time Master laughed.

The explosion, wasn't really an explosion, it was Nocturne's prank. Somehow, he managed to make it so that, when the door was opened, the person who opened it would be blasted back with wind and his sleep dust.

"I walked right into that one", chuckled Clockwork, who was now sitting on the floor, with his back to the wall, the very one he was blasted into.

Dan was stuck in a stupor, for the second time that day.

To make matters worse, a orange sticky note floated from nowhere and landed in front of Clockwork, he gingerly picked it up and read it.

 _"Yes, Yes you did, Happy Century!"_

 _Love Nocturne._

Clockwork's chuckling started again.

"The fuck was that?!"

"I told you Dan, every century, we tend to prank each other".

He was still chuckling when he rose, but he was quieted when his legs started to wobble and he swayed to the side.

With in a blink, Clockwork found himself in Dan's arms.

"Falling for me again Clocky?"

"Haha", was his deadpanned response.

Clockwork pushed himself out of the Phantom's arm, and slowly trudged forward, leaning on the wall for support.

"Where are you going?"

"To bed, I obviously can't work like this".

"We'll obviously, but aren't you gonna take a shower or something, to wash off that dust?"

"It's not dust as in sand Dan, it's relatively clean, it's more like a powder if anything and as for the shower, water makes its effects, when it's at this amount far more potent and I'm not too keen on waking up in the tub, thank you very much".

"Now that I'd like to see".

"Must you always be a pain?"

"I live to create it, smirked the Phantom".

"You don't 'live' at all".

"Ouch, jeez, you're a grouch when you're tired, you know that?"

"Hnn".

* * *

"Hey what about me?"

"What about you?"

"Where am I going to sleep?"

Clockwork raised a brow.

"In your room of course, or would you prefer the thermos?"

"Hey, you promised you wouldn't put me back in that thing, unless I stepped out of line!"

"I never said that you 'stepped out of line', just if you'd prefer to sleep in it".

"Look I get it, your tired and grouchy cause you wanted to work, but don't be a dick".

"I'm not being a- wait, your not afraid to go into your room, are you?"

"I- no- it's just-"

"You almost sound like your younger self, stuttering around like that".

Dan's face coloured, _hell even the flames of his hair changed slightly_.

"Shut up!"

"As you wish Dan".

"God, your such a dick".

"Oh, and here I was, going to let you stay in my room, but it seems you rather stay in your room _alone_ ".

"No wait- I'll- I'll share with you, the Phantom hadn't lost his blush, but wait how do you know that, he hasn't screwed up your room?"

"Personal sleeping quarters *yawn* are off limits, now *yawn* are you coming or not?"

Dan, nodded and followed quietly.

The backtrack to Clockwork's room took far longer than it should have , well to the Time Master at least, the effects of the dust was kicking in.

It took them even longer, when they heard a knock on the door.

* * *

"Daniel, not that I'm not happy to see you, but care to explain?"

"Yeah kid, it's 10:00pm"

"How did you do that?" Asked Danny, completely ignoring Clockwork's question.

"What, tell time without looking at a clock?" the boy nodded, "I live with this bastard what the hell do you think?"

"Huh, never thought of that, cool".

"Now that you have your curiosity sated, care to do the same for us?"

"He's got a point kid, why late visit?"

"Well-"

"Isn't it your bed time?" Sneered Dan.

Danny just glared at him, "as I was saying, Dani and the girls are having a sleepover, Jaz, Sam, Valerie, don't ask me how she got there and even Star, again don't ask".

Clockwork rolled his eyes for the umpteenth time.

"Continue Daniel".

"R-right, uh, the girls managed to get the whole house to themselves. My parents had left for some ghost convention thing and I was going to stay over at Tucker's, but one of his cousin's had an emergency and they had to leave town".

"And you're here because?"

"Dan".

"What?!"

Clockwork glared.

"Clockwork come on, he could have went to the Farfrozen or some shit, your his guardian, not his freaking babysitter". By now, Dan had his arms crossed over his chest, looking more and more like a petulant child.

Danny, who had seemingly felt left out, decided to pipe up.

"I would have went to Frostbite's of it weren't for the fact that, I'm less likely to get blasted out of the sky here, than going to the Farfrozen, Dan".

Danny had originally planned to go to the Farfrozen, but Clockwork's was closer and he didn't want to risk, running in to Skulker at night. Knowing it was late, he didn't exactly expect a happy welcome call, but he didn't expect to see was, a very tired Clockwork and a near expressionless Dan.

"But uh- if it's um, too much trouble, I could leave". Danny looked sheepish, _Clockwork was tired and probably didn't want to deal with him right now, maybe he should go_.

As if reading his thoughts Clockwork sighed, "usually I would have no problem with you staying here Daniel, but we're currently having a slight problem".

"What kind of problem?"

Clockwork looked to Dan, and pointed to Danny, " **fill him in** ", and with that he disappeared.

The two phantoms, were left in an awkward silence by the door.

"So, um what did I miss?"

Dan face palmed.

* * *

"So, they do this every century?"

"Apparently."

"And pink paint?"

The elder Phantom nodded

"Why not-"

"A false mirror?" It was the younger's turn to nod. "Yeah I know, told him about that".

A pregnant pause.

"So, all the rooms?"

"Looks like."

While both males were 'talking' series of bangs and explosion could be heard in the background.

About 10 minutes after, Clockwork came down coated in dust, which he tried in vain to brush off, "it seems like you'd have to be bunk with us Daniel".

"If it's not, too much trouble".

"Do you want to leave kid?" Seethed Dan.

Danny blinked.

"Then shut up and let's go".

* * *

Clockwork's bed was relatively huge, it fit all three of them comfortably, well it _would have been_ comfortable, if he were sharing with any _other two people_.

"Quit hogging the sheets!"

"Then quit curling up!"

"Stop kicking me!"

"I'm not kicking you, I'm not even touching you".

"Oh sure, I'm just going crazy, of course you kicked me!"

"I did no-"

"Will you both keep quiet, if this continues, I'll kick you both out and on the couch".

"Sorry Clockwork".

"Yeah, sorry".

Not even two minutes later.

"Give me back the sheet!"

"That's it, both of you out, NOW!"

Both Phantoms suddenly found themselves outside Clockwork's room, in front of a purple couch, Dan could swear was in the Observatory.

Clockwork groaned, sending them out was a mistake, with both of his charges on the couch, their squabbles increased even more.

"keep on your side!"

"I am on my side your legs are too long!"

"you're just too short".

Clockwork was pissed, "I swear if I have to go out there, you two won't like what will happen". The Phantoms stopped their squabbling, when they noticed that Clockwork's entire room was glowing blue and that his aura seemed to be quite _threatening_.

" **Good** ".

* * *

The next morning Clockwork woke up at 10:00am sharp, far later than usual, but who could blame him, even though most of the effects of the dust had worn off, he was still quite groggy.

He thought hard about leaving his bed, but he needed to see if the Phantoms hadn't killed each other.

Walking outside his room, the Time Master almost laughed, Daniel was curled up on the elder Phantom's chest, with Dan's arm wrapped protectively around his was quite the amusing scene and Clockwork would have woken them, just to see their reactions, but decided he could deal with less stress. And with a yawn, the Time Master went right back to bed.

He'd laugh at the Phantoms later.

* * *

 **AN:/ that's that you guys, now it's my time to go to bed, I have a killer headache that's probably a fever, but eh. Anyway yall know the deal, ask your questions, send your ideas, and H'Cs and I'm up for writing them down. The next one should be a Danny and CW bonding thing for the guest, I'll try to write these in order of the responses.**

 **Love yall! ^-^**


	5. Father Time

**AN/: Hey guys guess who's back and guess who got hit by a bus!**

 **Yeah, all the time I wasn't here, recovery, life man, oh and don't get me started on college, thanks to my friends and family, I've been able to catch up on my work, but that didn't really help my grades, I'm watching them go down the drain with my self-esteem. But anyway I can walk and move and stuff, hell the doctors told me I'm either really lucky or I have a really strong spine, eh I'll go with luck, cuz if someone pokes me in the back I'm down XD**

 **So without further a due, adue, ado? Still don't know how to spell that**

 **Anyway Enjoy and Review**

 **DISCLAIMER: I do not own Danny Phantom**

* * *

 **Father Time**

"I'm not going", grumbled a gruff voice.

"Very well".

"Suit yourself".

The two other voices then left through a portal. And the first was left alone in the tower.

"Stay here and watch the Time Screens, or go with us to the far frozen", muttered Dan mockingly.

"Oh please, they just want me to babysit the little brat when she comes here, they know damn well, fire and ice don't mix!"

"Stupid Old man, stupid kid, and do they really expect me to just stand here and watch this shit?!"

Phantom seethed.

He turned towards the flashing screens.

"Doesn't Clockwork ever get a headache from this shit?!"

* * *

It was not strange to see the "Great One" randomly appear in the land of the FarFrozen however, the fact that he came out of a portal with a strange and immensely powerful aura behind him, did set some of the inhabitants on edge.

There about 6ft from where Danny stepped out from the portal were two children playing in the snow.

Upon closer inspection, it was a young ghost girl playing with Youngblood and apparently he said something that upset her and she threw a snowball at him.

He dodged it and of course this was the particular moment Clockwork choose to step out of the portal, the snowball continued on its path, the Time Master's eyes narrowed as he side stepped the ball of snow and suspended it in mid air with a flick of his wrist.

His eyes then locked on the perpetrator, the child with her arm still out stretched everyone gasped.

If you were present you could hear the murmurs of the crowd.

 _ **"The Master of Time, he's here!"**_

 _ **"Wasn't he just a legend?"**_

 _ **"Do you feel that aura?"**_

 _ **"Of course he's all powerful, and he's gonna show us that by eradicating the child".**_

 _ **"Oh my, someone go call the parents and tell them that their child will be wiped from existence".**_

" _ **He's probably going to get the other one too!"**_

While more murmurs erupted from the ever growing crowd, the little girl and her friend stood petrified, as did Danny.

 _ **Would Clockwork really hurt them?**_

Suddenly, the murmuring in the crowd stoped and there was dead silence.

Clockwork chuckled then he smiled and a wind from seemingly out of nowhere pulled his hood down and long locks of white hair pooled around his shoulder, his aura dimmed lightly but his smile did not.

"That's quite a throw, you've got there", surprisingly the child answered.

"T-thank you, but how do you do that?"

Clockwork understanding what the child saying and replied with a light shrug.

"I used a form of telekinesis my dear, would you like to learn?"

Forgetting herself the child nodded vigorously until she realized whom she was talking to, Clockwork just chuckled again and approached the child, Youngblood had other plans apparently and bailed the moment he had a chance. Clockwork paid no mind to him as he faced the girl.

He lightly dropped a snowball into her hand.

"Alright, can you lift objects without touching them?"

"Uhuh, but only boxes and food"

Well the same principle applies here", he gestured to the snowball in her hand, "now throw it normally".

She did as she was told and threw it quite a distance. "Good", praised Clockwork as he gave her another snowball, "now try using telepathy."

Once again the child did as told and lifted it up about a good 5 feet in the air.

"Well done," smiled Clockwork, "you seemed to have mastered lifting items, how about throwing them?"

The girl tried to throw it using telekinesis but it didn't go far, she sighed, disappointed. Clockwork only smiled "you see my dear you have control focusing on lifting, however you didn't focus on throwing," the child look puzzled.

"Throw it again, this time not using telekinesis". She did so and once again the snowball in flew in the distance.

"See you focused on throwing it here"

"B-but I wasn't using my powers!" Sputtered the girl indignantly.

"Exactly, but that's when you focus on doing it, try again this time using your powers".

"Okay", nodded the child timidly and this time the snowball went further, but not as far as it did when she threw it with only her hand, she smiled anyway it was quite an improvement.

"Well done, now you can try to go farther".

With new determination, she did as she was told and after three tries she managed to get the hang of it in sense and the child was immensely proud, the crowd even cheered.

"Seems like you've got it, ready to try something harder?"

The girl nodded eyes bright and ready for the challenge.

"While you can now throw, let's see how well you can aim".

Clockwork opened a tiny little portal, the same distance as the one he stepped out of, the girl nodded, her eyes glowed and a snowball pitched forward, only to barley miss the mark.

"Hmm, you came quite close, how's about another try? Or are you ready to give up?" questioned Clockwork with what could only be known as a shit eating grin.

"Uh-uh," she said with defiance, "I got this!"

And with that she tried again, this time hitting the "target" dead on. She grinned in triumph.

Clockwork smirked.

Three more "targets" appeared, the girl scowled at the smiling Temporal Ghost and shot at each with quite a surprising amount of accuracy.

Clockwork nodded, "Alright, it seems that a congrats would be in order, you've improved greatly with your telekinetic abilities, well regarding a snowball at least". Some of the adults in the crowd laughed at the last part.

"Now here's one more challenge".

One of the "targets" appeared exactly at the center, of where the original portal once was.

"Only one? What's the deal?" The lone "target" confused the child greatly.

"Hmm? Is something the matter? Or do you not think you are able to hit it?"

The girls eyes narrowed, "oh you're on!"

* * *

The telekinetically thrown snowball would have been true to is mark, except that when it was about to hit, the portal suddenly expanded and the speeding ball of snow hit a being on the other side, non other than Dan Phantom.

The ball quickly melted under the heat of the Phantom's hair, leaving it quite... doused.

Dan glared at the Time Master who simply smirked in response.

The Phantom huffed, rolled his eyes and began closing the portal, but before he could a voice piped up behind him.

"Oh, man, they got you, they got you real good, but who got you? I gotta see!"

A blur of black and white appeared from behind the now soaked Phantom and shot out of the closing portal with such energy, almost everyone had to blink to realize that blur- figure was actually a ghost.

"Hey, you! Nice shot!"

Everyone in the crowd blinked, Dani Phantom had appeared before the stunned child.

"U-um thanks, M-Mr Clockwork was showing me how"

Dani beamed, the girl drew more into herself, though it went unnoticed by the excited other.

"Really? Cool!" The child shrugged shyly.

The Phantom then turned to the Time Master.

"Hey Clockwork, taking on new students already? Didn't you just teach me this trick yesterday? You know, you should be a teacher!"

"Me a teacher? Oh heavens no, they get the least amount of pay", the words spoken in such monotone made it even more funny.

Dani giggled, "Since when do you care about pay?"

"I don't, but is there some jealously I detect for me taking on another student? Hmm?" Clockwork smirked, his arms crossed looking quite smug.

Dani looked equally smug, with her hands on her hips, and the smirk that claimed pure mischief.

"See when you say things like that all I think is 'yep totally teacher material', well at least I know I'm definitely gonna ace history".

Dani had said this with so much mock nonchalance, everyone had to laugh.

"And about me being jealous? Please, I need another girl, I gotta show the boys what girl power can do! And if it's another guy", she shrugged, "Eh, I can use someone else to torture".

Clockwork shock his head "honestly Danielle", the amusement was quite apparent in his eyes.

The young Phantom smiled, and then just as swiftly, she turned to the child.

"But seriously, all in all that was a pretty good distance! Nice job, High five! "

The girl smiled and high fived the other, having found the other's excitement quite amusing.

Clockwork chuckled at the two ghost girls.

"Now Daniel", he said, calling out to the boy who was practically "frozen" the entire time.

"Uh, yeah?"

"You do remember why we are here?"

"Uh, um, well, yeah, I kinda forgot, with this whole thing going on, heh?" The boy shrugged and rubbed the back if his neck sheepishly.

Clockwork chuckled, "I figured as much, we're here to ask Frostbite to help you improve with your kryokenisis and hers", he said gesturing to Dani, who was making her new friend a snowball with her powers to see who could telekinetically throw it further.

"Oh yeah, now I remember!"

* * *

The talk with Frostbite went quite well, as he was happy to help the "Great One" and his relative, especially seeing the power and energy said relative had.

Walking out from Frostbite's, Danny and the Time Master headed to retrieve the youngest member of Team Phantom.

"Hey Clockwork"

"Hmm?"

"How come you're so good with kids?"

"Hmm, well you are aware I have a child form, correct?"

Danny nodded.

"Well I believe it stems from there, with the form of a child, I have a semblance of understanding when it comes to a child.

"Wow, really?!"

"No"

"Ugh, Clockwork!"

"Honestly Daniel, it's too easy to mess with you"

"No but seriously Clockwork, how?"

"Oh? You planning to have kids so soon?"

"Wha-what?! NO! Why would you- Where did that- No!"

The Temporal Ghost simply laughed at his flustered Charge.

"Relax Daniel, I know what you meant, and to answer your question, its simple, children amuse me, especially with their care free innocence and logic."

Danny's green blush had died down and he listen attentively to his mentor.

"And besides a child's laughter is often times, one of the purest sounds you can hear and just so you know, one of the many monikers I've been known by is "Father Time".

"Oh man, I've never put that together, it makes so much sense now! But wait, if you're 'Father Time' how come you don't have kids?"

Clockwork chuckled, "as a matter of fact, I have four"

"Really? Can I meet the- wait, your talking about us aren't you?" Danny gestured to himself and Dani who was a bit further off.

"Of course, Daniel"

Danny blushed slightly, "Thanks Clockwork"

"Anytime Daniel"

"W-Was that a pun?!"

"Maybe"

"Clockwork!"

Said ghost only chuckled and continued forward.

"Hey, question"

"Yes?"

"You said you have four kids, me, Dani, I'm guessing Dan because he can behave like a real brat sometimes, but who's the fourth?"

"Nocturne"

"Nocturne?"

"He can be just as childish as all three of you put together"

"Heh, true"

"But it's strange, considering he's older than me"

"Huh? He is?"

"Yes, the concept of dreams came fat before the concept of time, Dreams came before Time, and so did their Masters but not by much".

"Wow, wouldn't've guessed, er, um how much older is he to you?"

"Like I said Daniel, not by much, he's a single human year older than me, and he reminds me of it any chance he gets"

"Heh, so that means you have three kids and a Nocturne"

Clockwork work stopped and stared at his "kid" before breaking out in laughter with him.

He ruffled the Phantom's hair.

"Yes Daniel, three kids and a Nocturne".

With that, Clockwork teleported, to where the young ghost girls were playing in the snow, leaving Danny in his thoughts.

* * *

When Danny reached the three he was greeted with a snowball to the face.

"Hey!" He cried indignantly, as he tried to wipe the cold snow off his face.

After doing so he tried to find the one who shot him. He looked at Clockwork and then at the girls.

The girls were pointing at Clockwork and the Time Master could only gape.

"Okay, I blinked and I got blamed, very well, I see how it is, but if I get to get in trouble, then so do you".

Suddenly a clump of snow dropped unceremoniously on both girls, covering them completely, their heads popped out a few seconds after and all of them laughed.

"How did you do that?" Asked the girl.

"Telekinesis?" Supplied Dani.

"Not at all child, I simply opened a portal under a small mound of snow and placed it over your heads and that's all there is to it"

"Cool!"

"Right?!"

Danny laughed at the girls, who could care less about their predicament. When the little girl sneezed, Clockwork spoke.

"Alright, I think it's time for you to get out of that hole before you two get hypothermia".

"Yes, sir"

"Sure thing"

Were the replies as both girls wriggled their way into freedom.

"Hey, how does hot chocolate sound?"

"Sounds good to me, Dani"

Clockwork rolled his eyes, knowing that it was his hot chocolate that was going to be raided.

"Very well, let's go"

With that the three said farewell to the little girl as her mother called her from behind and they entered a portal that Clockwork opened into the Citadel, and there they found Dan, who was grumbling about something and his hair was still, very much wet.

* * *

 **AN/: And that's it! Whew that was long 13 & 1/2 pages, but I think it was because I melded two points into one,both _GhostWolf19_ and a _Guest_ wanted a Danny and CW bond, while another _Guest_ wanted another Dani and CW bond, so I mashed it up and put a bit of both, eh hope that's ok ^-^'.**

 **The little girl was BoxLunch by the way, I don't really know how old she was or how old everyone was when she was born, but let's put her there shall we, after all, like Youngblood, ghosts can stay whatever age they want.**

 **Anyway since I'm on Easter break and I only have a lab report and a movie to make, I'll be quite open, so feel free to give me a request.**

 **Love yall! ^-^**


	6. Baby Sitting

**AN/: Hey guys this one took three days only because of the length and maybe because the beach was calling my name.**

 **Yeah, got all sunburnt and stuff but i had fun, so im going right back tomorrow, salt water here I come, again XD**

 **Anyway Enjoy and Review**

 **DISCLAIMER: I do not own Danny Phantom**

* * *

 **Baby Sitter**

"Honestly, you worry far too much"

"It's not the matter of me being worried, rather the matter of me being tired"

"Exhausted, more like"

"Mm, well after this meeting I will be"

"Hnn, you better be in bed as soon as this meeting's over"

"You couldn't stop me from doing so if you tried"

"Well I could, but that would be the opposite of my job, now wouldn't it?"

"Hmm yes, the Master of Dreams giving people insomnia, I truly wonder what the effects of that would be"

"I would ask if you'd like to be the first, but you already have insomnia, you ticking bastard"

"Eh, comes with the job description" shrugged the Temporal Ghost

Nocturne rolled his eyes.

"But in all seriousness, do you really think you have the energy for this? Not only did you have to deal with that reality twisting anomaly and that random worm hole in _**Noisnemidtaht**_ **,** but now you're going to a meeting in _**Nisevitca**_ , that place drains energy!"

"Now who's worrying too much?"

"Clockwork, I'm serious, you haven't been able to get a moments rest for the past two weeks, usually I'd leave you till the end of the month, but this isn't the 'usual', this is reality bending machines and expanding wormholes, these types of shit drain you, and yet you are going to a dimension where it's sole purpose is to drain the energy of beings for sustenance."

"Yes, I admit that these two weeks have been quite... _hectic_ but that's the reason the meeting's being held, besides I can get quite a few days off for this".

"You, and days off, oh please, what's the minimum?"

"A week"

"The max?"

"Three"

"Huh, possibly an entire month, alright seems worth it, but who in their right minds picked _**Nisevitca**_ for a two day meeting?!"

"Ask the Observants and the Council, and it's not a two day meeting, it's a full 24hours"

"Yes, but a day there is two here, so it's still a two day meeting to me"

This time Clockwork rolled his eyes.

"Hey, if the council is going, how did you get me out?"

"One, it's _**Nisevitca**_ , it drains everybody and makes us tired, you being there really wouldn't help"

"Fair enough, and two?"

"They all agreed that Phantom needs Babysitting-"

"And since I'm the only one not going, that job falls automatically to me right?"

"No actually, you're not the only one who's not going, not everyone can handle _**Nisevitca**_ , but you're the only one I trust to not kill him, or blow up my tower"

"Alright, I can handle the bastard, will the other two be joining as well?"

"Likely, but *yawn* you shouldn't worry to much about them, if anything *yawn* they wouldn't mind helping you"

"Maybe you should take a small nap before the meeting" stated a concerned Nocturne.

"As much as I want to I'd rather not, I might not wake up in time for the meeting, besides I'm not that tired"

"Mhm, not that tired yet you're rubbing your eyes and making some half assed excuse about you not waking up in time! When in the world have you ever been late?"

"..."

"Thought so, now what's the deal? Afraid you'll be all grumpy if you have to wake up to go to the meeting?"

"Hardly, I get irritable at the usual 3hour meetings, I'm pretty sure it will be worse at 8 times that"

"Oh I see, your not afraid of not waking in time, it's more of waking and not wanting to go"

"Well, I -"

"Nope, I got this, where's your comb?"

Clockwork blinked.

"Comb?"

"It's in your room right?"

Clockwork could only nod dumbly as his friend shot up to find his comb, for whatever reason.

A beat later and he found himself stripped of his cloak, dragged by the arm onto the couch and in a blink, his head on Nocturne's lap where Nocturne was playing in his hair.

"Nocturne-"

"No, go to sleep, the meeting starts a 9:00Pm and it's 8:47, I'll wake you at 8:56 and you can leave at 8:58, two whole minutes early"

Clockwork opened his mouth to argue, but he wisely snapped it shut.

"Fine"

"Good, now go to sleep"

Nocturne kept playing in Clockwork's hair until...

 ** _Crimson eyes closed of their own accord..._**

* * *

Crimson eyes then snapped open for what seem like a second later.

Clockwork awoke to Nocturne shaking his shoulder. Sitting up, he stared Nocturne in the eye, groaned and lay back down.

"No come on, you gotta get up"

"I know, but it's 24hours! I'm going to have to listen to everyone blather on about something irrelevant for an entire day!"

Nocturne shook his head at his lap full of face down Time Master.

"Clockwork" he sing songed.

"Mnh"

"Clockwork"

"Mhn"

"You're gonna be late" the sing song continued.

"Ugh, I hate my job sometimes"

"Yes, yes it happens to the best of us, now get up"

Sitting up, Clockwork's hair was dishevelled and he looked like a child who's mother woken him up at 5:00am for no reason.

Nocturne chuckled at his friend's tired features.

"And this is what the comb was for"

"..."

"Want me to comb it for you?"

A nod.

With Nocturne combing his hair, Clockwork soon found himself drifting off at the surprisingly gentle ministrations of the other.

"Hey, don't fall asleep on me now, you only have three minutes to get to **_Nisevitca_** "

"Three minutes? You woke me earlier than you said you would"

"That's because I know you, if I didn't, you'd definitely be late"

"I could have enjoyed six more minutes of sleep"

"Mhm, maybe you would have, if you went to sleep earlier" smirked Nocturne.

Clockwork scowled.

"Alright here's your cloak, you now have two minutes, see told you I'd get you there 2 minutes early"

"Thanks", said Clockwork as he stood up and put on his cloak.

"See you two days from now, and please don't destroy anything"

"Jeez, some faith there Clocky, but I will go with most of your food"

Clockwork chuckled.

"Thought so"

And with that he opened a portal and stepped in.

* * *

"What the hell are you doing here?"

Nocturne turned to see Dan Phantom walking in.

"Ah, so the great beast lives! Jeez I was starting to wonder if you faded away in there, Clockwork told me you've been asleep all day"

Dan deadpaned.

"I asked a question, Dream bastard"

"I was seeing off the Ticking bastard, he's going to a meeting and won't be back till 2 days time", huffed out Nocturne with his arms crossed.

"Alright, so why are you still here?"

"Babysitting"

"Babysi- I'm not a child that needs to be watched over by the likes of you!"

The Phantom was seething.

Nocturne was unimpressed.

"Look kid, I don't like this as much as you do, but I'm not only here for you, you selfish bastard, I'm here for the boy and my adopted niece, plus I told Clockwork that I would raid his food. So you hungry or not?"

Dan blinked

"Fine"

"So why do you eat if you're a spirit?"

"Why were you asleep all day?"

"Hey, I asked a question Dream bastard!"

"So did I"

Dan glared and Nocturne glared back. Eons with Clockwork's glares had taught Nocturne a thing or two, Dan didn't stand a chance.

"I was hanging out with the little runt OK? For some reason she had a shit load of energy and freaking Clockwork saw fit to make me stay with her"

"Ah yes, like any child my niece can be quite a handful"

"Ya think? And why do you call her your niece? "

"Because Clockwork won't **_step up_** and I want a niece or nephew to spoil OK? And besides how can you not love that adorable ball of manipulation and energy?"

"Heh, she's crafty I'll give her that, Clockwork only told me to make sure she didn't do something stupid and some how I ended up playing over fifty freaking board games with her!"

"Her manipulation skills are impressive, heh, certainly the reason she is perfect to be my niece" beamed Nocturne with pride.

"Oh please, you're hardly manipulative"

"Oh? You are aware that making dreams requires the manipulation of-"

"Yeah, yeah, dreams, your only manipulative in dreams, you-"

Nocturne cut him off with a laugh.

"You're eating food I made and answering questions I gave you, when you, oh so sweetly reminded us that you posed your question first and that I have yet to answer it"

Dan blinked

 _Well shit_

"You are aware of the phrase 'follow your dreams' right?"

"You are aware of the phrase 'follow your dreams' right?"

Dan nodded.

Nocturne's tone got dark and a cruel smirk appeared on his face.

 _ **"Then you follow what I create"**_

Dan gulped.

He was reminded that the being in front of him, was no ordinary ghost, he was an immensely powerful spirit, probably just as powerful as Clockwork.

"Oh please, don't tell me you're gonna be afraid of me now? Did you really think I wouldn't be as strong as Clockwork? I'm a year older than him after all"

 _Wait,_ _Nocturne's older?_

Dan's face must have shown his shock, because Nocturne answered his unspoken question.

"The concept of Dreams was formed before the concept of Time and so were their Masters, hence the reason I am one year older than Clockwork"

"So you're stronger than him?"

"Yes and no, in some things he's better, but when it comes to power, a year really doesn't make a difference, it's skill that counts."

"Who's-"

"It's about even, we've managed to knock each other out quite often, when we were younger, and we still tend to get into a few-eh disagreements every decade or so", said Nocturne finishing with a shrug

"Pfft, oh my god, I can imagine it, you're like two over powered children fight over a toy"

"Mhm yes, but then again aren't all beings with power like that?"

"Hmm, fair enough, alright, I'll admit, I may or may not have found some semblance of respect for you there Dream bastard".

Nocturne smirked.

And here Clockwork said it was hard.

* * *

 _This is freaking impossible!_

Day break hit on day 2 and Nocturne found himself bombarded with a concession of noises brought only by all three Phantoms.

How? Good question.

Well of course it would have had to start at day one.

After the dinner and conversation with Dan, Nocturne bid the large Phantom good night and proceeded in cleaning up the kitchen.

When he was finished he settled himself on the couch, and read a book that was originally from Clockwork's library.

At the twelfth chapter of the book, where things were just about to get interesting a knock brought Nocturne out of his fantasy induced stupor.

He blinked. _Oh its morning._

There was another knock.

Raising a brow in confusion, Nocturne got up and tended to the door.

The second he opened it, there was a blur of black and white and suddenly a weight in his neck.

"Hi uncle Noccy!"

"Hello dear-"

"Whatcha doin here? Clockwork not sleeping again?"

"Yes but no, see Clockwork isn't even here right now, he-"

"Oh, so you're Tower sitting?"

"Babysitting too, squirt"

"Oh, hi Dan"

"Hi squirt, now can you do me a favour and tell me how the hell you're so energetic at 7:00 in the morning?"

"Got sent to bed early yesterday, so I woke up early and bored, I came to see if I could bother Clocky, but he's not here"

"Mhm, you always bother people this early in the morning squirt?"

"No, I was just checking up on him, he's been really busy this past two weeks, I wanted to know if he was ok, and when I saw uncle Noccy over here, I thought he over worked himself again"

"How thoughtful of you squirt, but yeah, the Oldman ain't coming back till tomorrow, he's got a meeting apparently."

"Huh, some meeting, and stop calling me squirt!"

"Whatever you say squirt"

"One of these days, I will grow!"

Nocturne simply watched the two, amused by their sibling like bickering.

Hey made breakfast for both of them and somehow ended up playing scrabble with the two Phantoms.

Around lunch Danny Phantom him self appeared.

"Hi Dani, Dan, Noc-Nocturne? Let me guess Clockwork over worked himself again?"

"That was my first guess too Danny, but nah, he's just at a meeting, he'll be back tomorrow", piped Dani helpfully.

"Wow, some meeting", whistled Danny.

"Exactly", said Dan and Dani simultaneously.

Nocturne simply rolled his eyes as the final Phantom lay down and began playing with the others.

"D-E-S-T-R-U-C"

"Sorry Dan, that won't work there, a Y is at the end"

"Damn you squirt, I could have won with that"

"Actually, if she put anything there she would have won Dan"

"No one asked you kid"

"Well excuse me for trying to be honest" mocked Danny dramatically.

Dani giggled.

"Pfft, Jesus Christ kid, ladies and gentlemen, Danny Phantom, your neighbourhood Diva"

"More like Drama queen", piped Dani.

All three Phantoms bust out laughing. Danny and Dan had gotten along quite well after the whole body switching incident and Dani had gotten along with both of them, so it was quite a comfortable arrangement.

Nocturne watched them with amusement, they could make quite the family.

He smiled to himself and began making them lunch.

Around 4:30 Dani left, saying she wanted a head start in finding more board games for all of them to play.

After Dani left, Dan retreated to his room with a yawn.

Leaving Danny and Nocturne.

"So..."started Danny.

Nocturne rolled his eyes.

"You know Danny, you never did tell me why you came here today".

"I - I didn't? Huh, I thought I did"

"Dani did, she said she was worried about Clockwork, it's why she came, Dan, well he lives here so...what's your excuse?"

"Huh, I guess I was worried too? I know he was busy, because the entire Citadel stays hidden so that no one bothers Clockwork when he's doing something super important and according to Dani, it's been gone for like two weeks or something. Day before yesterday, Dan popped right when me, Sam and Tuck were leaving for a project, so today Dani thought maybe Clockwork was less busy".

"Hmm, you explained Dani's reason for coming today, but not really your own, you realize that?"

"Huh, I guess I did-"

"What, you had some History homework you wanted him to help you with?"

"What-no?!"

"Or maybe you decided, you didn't like something you did and want to go back in time and change it?"

"No! I wouldn't-"

"How bout a peek into the future, huh? Oh yes the Master of Time has to cater to my every need, let me just abuse that power"

"I would Never!-"

"Or maybe-"

"SHUT UP!"

"I would never abuse Clockwork or his powers, he's my friend, mentor and kinda like a dad, I don't know, but what I do know is that he cares for me and I care for him the same way I care for Dani, hell even Dan, so don't you dare tell me, that I would ever abuse the people I care about!"

"Heh, well said Phantom"

Danny sputtered.

"Bu- I hate you, I really hate you"

"Sorry," laughed Nocturne, "I tend to do that to Clockwork too, when he won't tell me what's bothering him, he has the same reaction."

"Dude, that's messed up, what kind of friend are you?"

"One who is deeply concerned about the well being of his friends, and if it means almost getting hit, to find out what's wrong, I'll do it"

Danny looked down and found that it was true, his fist was balled up and ready to strike Nocturne without him realizing it!

"Eheh, sorry bout that" said Danny sheepishly rubbing the back of his neck.

"It's fine", Nocturne waved him off.

"But, the real problem here is your situation with Clockwork, right?"

The halfa nodded.

"You consider him a friend and mentor, but you hesitate to consider him a father figure, why?"

"Uh, well, as much as I appreciate it, I kinda have a hard time with powerful beings trying to be my father figure"

"Ah, I see, well don't worry as much when it comes to Clockwork, he's Father Time after all, he comes off fatherly to everyone, well actually, I should say more 'motherly', considering how, he tries to take care of everybody, honestly that guy"

Danny couldn't help but laugh.

"Thanks Nocturne, you really helped, I'll be heading home now before they send Dani after me"

"No problem Danny, and do reach home safely, hmm?"

"I will, see ya!"

After Danny left Nocturne, returned to the couch to continue his reading.

* * *

As you can Imagine, Nocturne read through the entire night again and Dani came knocking at 7:00 again, truly the only difference from the day prior, was that Danny was with her and both their arms were loaded with board games.

Nocturne vaguely wondered how they could fly, with out bumping into things, but a grumpy Dan brought him from his thoughts.

"What is it with you people and knocking on doors at 7:00 in the morning?!"

"Heh, morning Dan"

Dan rolled his eyes.

"Morning squirt"

"Hey!"

Both Danny and Nocturne laughed at the two bickering Phantoms.

After all the board games were placed on a near by coffee table, the three Phantoms sat down to eat the breakfast made by the Master of Dreams.

Of course the problem afterwards was choosing which game to play first. And here we are in the present in which all three Phantoms decided to shout the names of the games they wished to play. The cacophony of noise, truly made, listening impossible.

"I'm starting to really hate babysitting" muttered Nocturne as he placed his hands on the bridge of his nose.

They had finally agreed to play Snakes and Ladders, then Scrabble again, because Dan wanted a rematch, Monopoly and whatever else if they had time.

"Hey Dan, check this, D-E-S-T-"

"Don't you dare"

"R-U-C-T-I-O-N"

"I don't like you right now squirt"

"And I don't like you calling me squirt, so we're even!" Said Dani sticking her tongue out.

"Well, I got, or should I say you got, R-E-C-K-T"

"Nice!" shouted Dani as she and Danny high fived.

Dan grumbled but continued the game none the less.

After lunch was Monopoly and you can guess how well that went.

"Come on, land on a five, I only have $200, come on lucky number five!"

Danny threw the dice, the first landed on two and the second twirled.

All eyes watch the moving die in anticipation as it slowly began to stop...

It landed on three.

"YES! That's my property, I am Safe!

In your face Dani".

"Oh don't you worry Danny, everywhere else is mine or Dan's and since he's gonna have to give me three of his hotels anyway, you're in for a ride"

The littlest Phantom smirked and all the males in the room gulped.

Nocturne being the first to be bankrupt by Dani, opted to be the banker, Dan was down to $10 and Danny remained with his $200. It was now Dan's turn.

"So, I'm screwed, your one place saved you kid, but my safe zone is practically on the other side of the board, Squirt stole three of my hotels!"

"I did not! You're just sour 'cause I have expert realistate skills, and besides you only need a twelve to get to your boardwalk"

"Yeah, and that's not gonna happen squirt"

"He's right Dani, there's no way Dan can make that, and he might as well give you the money".

"Screw you kid, you should be on my side, she's murdering us! Her laps are covered in money! Hell even the banker got bankrupt! "

"Jee thanks Dan, as if I needed a reminder that a little girl beat me at monopoly" came the sarcastic reply from the previously silent Dream Master.

Dani simply smiled, her cruel smile and Dan was left contemplating his inevitable defeat at the hands of a twelve year old.

The dice rolled... they landed...

Six... and ... Six

"Ladies and gentlemen king Dan reigns another day"

"Or at least another round", smirked Danny.

"Alright it's my turn, and there's only one threat to me here and that's Dan's final hotel, but that's, 1,2,3,4... 9 blocks away, I think I can manage"

"Don't get to cocky Squirt, but if you mess up, I can use that $750"

"Don't worry Dan, I have enough to buy that thing from you, so I can handle landing on it if anything" shrugged Dani nonchalantly.

The dice rolled... 4... 5...4

"Eight! Sorry Dan, no $750 for you!"

"Welp, we're dead kid"

"No doubt about it" said Danny with a whistle.

"Alright Dan, it's your turn, you'll pass Go no matter what you do, so I'm handing you the $200", said Banker Nocturne.

Dan rolled the dice... 2...4.

"Six, that's mine Dan, you're out, $210 isn't enough"

"Your turn Danny, better hork over that $200"

"Kid don't let her, your our only hope here, avenge me and Nocturne!"

At this point everyone was trying so hard not to laugh.

"Ok, my turn, come on!"

6...6

"Twelve, 1,2,3-that's yours isn't it Dani?"

"Yep, I win"

"All hail the Monopoly Queen, I'll go make us some snacks" declared Nocturne as he stood up and stretched.

* * *

"Got any two's?"

"Go fish, Danny"

"Any three's dear?"

"Nope, sorry uncle Noccy, go fish"

It was already 8:30 and the group had went through a series of card games after their snacks. From, Poker, to Pitty pot, Jackass, to Oldmaid, to War and no Go fish, with Black Jack next.

"Any five's squirt?"

"Here, ya go Dan"

Dani passed the cards to Dan and he placed his down.

"Any six's Danny?"

At 8:50 Nocturne suddenly got up and headed up stairs.

"Uh, why are you going upstairs?" Asked a curious Dani.

"I'm helping", was Nocturne's cryptic reply.

He came back down five minutes later, but instead of returning to the game, he stood by one of the many Time Screens.

When they noticed that the Dream Master wasn't going to continue playing the Phantoms quickly packed up the cards and stood beside him.

"Let me guess, the Oldman is finally coming home?"

"Yes, and I best be here to greet him, less we find our selves on the floor with him".

"You think he'll pass out? What kind of meeting was it any way?" Asked Dani

"Yeah, 2 whole days is a lot for a meeting, but wouldn't they give like an overnight rest or something? At least some sort of intermission right?"

"It actually wasn't a two day meeting-"

"What? But-"

"But, it's two days here, he's in another dimension, one called **_Nisevitca_** , like I said, one day there is two days here"

"Huh, ok I get that, but why do you think he might pass out?"

"Yeah, I'm with Dani on this one Nocturne"

"Squirt's got a point"

Nocturne shook his head in amusement, the three could truly act like siblings sometimes.

"I said that because **_Nisevitca_** is a dimension that drains energy, and for some reason the Observants and the Council decided there to be the meeting place, why? Your guess is as good as mine"

"OK they're crazy, a dimension that drains energy? How in the world would that make a good meeting place?" Exclaimed Danny.

"Hey aren't you on the council too?"

"Yes I am dear"

"Then how come you got out of this meeting?" Inquired Dan with a raised brow.

"Clockwork- and speak of the devil"

9:00pm on the dot, a blue portal opened and out stepped the Master of Time.

We'll he would've stepped out, if the portal didn't suddenly disappear from under his feet. Though he only stumbled slightly, Nocturne was there to steady him by the shoulders.

"What's the matter, too tired to hold the portal?" Said Nocturne with a smirk.

Clockwork deadpanned.

"Haha, I'd like to see you do better given the circumstances"

He then turn to the trio of Phantoms and gave them a tired smile.

"I hope you three weren't too much trouble for Nocturne, I really don't want to hear him complaining for a week"

Danny and Dani laughed, Dan and Nocturne rolled their eyes.

"Your clothes are out for you already, shower and bed"

Nocturne's tone held no room for disagreement.

Clockwork however, put up no resistance, he simply nodded and teleported up, too tired to fly up himself.

The sound of the shower turning a few seconds later, was the only sign that he was there.

After waiting about ten minutes, the group downstairs began to get antsy.

Dani was the first to break the silence.

"Uh, shouldn't we go check on him?"

"He's probably out cold Dani, you saw how tired he was"

"Don't worry about him you two, I'll go, you can come check on him tomorrow, you best be heading home now, it's late"

"Alright, I'm headed to bed then" said Dan as he walked off.

"Night Dan!"

"Tch, night squirt, you too kid"

"Yeah, uh night Dan"

"I guess we'll head home then Nocturne"

"Yeah, take care of him ok?"

"I will dear, don't worry"

With that both Phantoms flew off.

* * *

Clockwork awoke groggily an hour later to a movement at his shoulders.

He blinked up and noticed that he was on Nocturne's lap. And the Dream Master himself was trying to stifle his laughter.

He must have noticed Clockwork's movement, because his body had stopped shaking and he looked down at the sleepy Time Master.

"Oh I'm sorry, did I wake you?"

"What are you doing in my bed and why am I in your lap?"

Nocturne sighed and put down the book he was reading.

"I came to came to check on you like twenty minutes after the kids left, so you were asleep for at least half an hour before I got up here. You weren't sleeping so well, and I know you have some fucked up insomnia, so I helped"

"So me, in your lap, helped?"

"Yes it did, and because I swear if you had gotten up to go downstairs and work-"

Clockwork sat up

"I-"

" _ **Because I know you would,**_ I stayed"

"Mhm, you sure it's not because you're too lazy to fly home?"

"It's far!" Whined the Dream weaver.

"You could just teleport"

"You know very well why I wouldn't do that, while I can teleport quite a distance, I can't teleported as far as you, it would take three consecutive teleportations to get me home, one from here to the center of the ghost zone, one from the center to the outer ghost zone and one from the outer to my home, I am not dealing with that at 10 in the night"

"Fine, it's not like it's the first time you're sleeping over" mumbled the Temporal ghost as he rubbed his eyes.

He then went right back to laying on Nocturne's lap.

"If you're staying in my room, you're going to have to be my pillow tonight, though"

Nocturne chuckled, and began playing with his friend's white locks, the Time Master was slowly falling asleep.

"Sure, but I'll finish this book before I go to sleep anyway"

"Hmm, seems like we switched, I want to sleep, while you want to stay up, how amusing"the statement came out in a breathy whisper.

"Huh, two days and I'm already becoming an insomniac, Clockwork I'm blaming you"

When he received no response, he looked down to see the Time Ghost deeply asleep, he shook his head and smiled, then he picked up his book and continued where he left off, while he was still playing in Clockwork's hair.

* * *

 **AN/: That's that, 31 pages, man, but it was fun writing Nocturne being a babysitter to all three Phantoms and Clockwork.**

 **Nocturne and Dan bonding, and Nocturne and Danny bonding, hope you like this one** _Kimera20_

 **the names of the dimensions were backwards words and they are as follows:**

 ** _Nisevitca-_** _Activesin_

 _ **Noisnemidtaht**_ ** _-_** _Thatdimension_

 **I placed it as "Active sin", because as a dimension that drains energy, activity would be a sin XD.**

 **Alright, yall know the drill,** **so feel free to give me a request and i'm a write it!**

 **Love yall! ^-^**


	7. Core Exhaustion

**AN/: Hey guys sorry for the delay, me and two of my friends got in to a traffic accident, I was driving, and no this child does not have a license reason being, she still can't reverse right XD But anyway I swerved to avoid this douche bag who went speeding over the double bump and when I turned, me and the girls ended up ramming into a taxi. This is the first time I have ever crashed and it got bad.**

 **I think this is like my what, 6th accident in total? I really should not be on the road, in general, like jeez everything thing on wheels is trying to kill me.**

 **The girls are OK, and the driver is fine, insurance is a pain, but so is everything else for a seventeen year old.**

 **So without further a due, adue, ado? Someone seriously show me how to spell that**

 **Anyway Enjoy and Review**

 **DISCLAIMER: I do not own Danny Phantom**

* * *

Core exhaustion

Part 2 of Babysitting

"Clockwork"

"Mnh?"

"Clockwork"

"Hmm?" Came the sleepy reply.

Nocturne rolled his eyes at the Time Master in his lap.

"Come on get up"

"Ngh, don't want to *yawn* day off 'member?"

"I remember, but you still need to get up"

"It's too *yawn* early, lemme sleep, for *yawn* like an hourr"

And... he was gone.

"Fine", sighed Nocturne, "but only an hour"

He received no response from the sleeping Ghost in his lap.

 _"Honestly, what am I going to do with you?"_

* * *

"Clockwork"

"Hmm, wha?" The Temporal Ghost sat up rubbing his eyes.

"Ah, looks like you're a little more coherent this time"

The Time Master raised a brow.

"You don't remember, do you?"

"Remember what?"

"Never mind, Nisevicta does tend to debilitate beings when it drains them, speaking of, considering you had less than favourable amounts of energy, your lucky you didn't reach core exhaustion"

The Dream weaver looked thoughtful for a moment, then he placed his hand on his friend's forehead and frowned.

"Hmm, going back to this morning, core exhaustion would explain it"

"I feel fine, though"

"Mm, for now, you're slightly warm, the fever should develop soon"

"Ugh, this is just great! Core exhaustion of all things, this should be _**fun**_!" Exclaimed the soon to be suffering ghost.

"Well, at least it's not a bad case, it's not a light one, but it's not bad, it could be worse"

"Rating?"

"On a scale from 1-10? Eh, I'd give it a six...point five"

"Great"

"Look on the bright sid-"

"What? That it's not a full seven?"

"Well, up until that fever pops out, then it will be"

"Ugh!"

* * *

"So what is core exhaustion exactly? I mean I can piece together from the name but what are like the symptoms n stuff?"

"Well dear, it's what happens when a ghost's core is overwhelmed, too much energy is drawn from it too quickly and it can't replenish itself, so it slows down everything in order to regain the lost energy, basically the equivalent to a human cold but without the mucus, usually happens when _**a ghost overworks themselves or when they go to an energy draining dimension, when they're already low on energy!"**_

"Thanks Nocturne", the Time Master rolled his eyes at his friend, then he turned his attention to his youngest charge, who was standing in front of the couch he was on.

"Where's Daniel? I thought that he would be accompanying you Danielle"

"Yeah, he's coming, he just didn't want to get out of bed this morning", said Dani with a shrug.

"Neither did he" piped Nocturne gesturing to the purple cloaked ghost.

Clockwork growled.

Dani giggled.

* * *

"So...um how long will that last?"

"Hmm, not sure Phantom, let me check"

"How do you check that? Asked Danny curiously.

"Like this, "replied Nocturne as he stepped forward to Clockwork with his palm up, Dani who was sitting next to him, felt Clockwork tense up and Nocturne noticed. "I need to check Clockwork", the ghost in question simply nodded, it was small and quick, but it was a nod nonetheless.

With permission given, Nocturne placed his hand on Clockwork's case and a light emitted from it, after a few seconds Clockwork jerked up and let out a hiss of pain. The movement caused Nocturne to stop and Dani to jump.

The Time Master had his head back and his eyes squeezed shut in obvious pain. Nocturne put a hand on his shoulder.

"Hey, you doing ok?"

Clockwork exhaled and nodded slightly.

"yeah".

He then looked to Dani and in a blink, she found herself with a lap full of Time Master, she couldn't help but giggle.

"Oh please, the pain is gone, stop being so dramatic" Nocturne shook his head at his friend.

"Core exhaustion is not fun, let me dramatic if I want too" huffed out Clockwork.

Dani began playing with his hair and he looked up at her.

"Hey"

"Hey yourself" she smirked.

Clockwork chuckled.

"So, it doesn't hurt anymore?"

"No, the pain is sharp, but brief, I'm fine"

"Oh, ok good" a relived sigh escaped her lips.

She looked down at the Ghost in her lap, his eyes were closed, and she smirked.

"So, are you just being 'dramatic' or you just like it when I play with your hair?"

One eye opened.

"Both"

"Pfft, dude, you're like-"

"If you say cat Daniel, I will throw one of these couch pillows at you, I swear!"

Danny raised his hands in mock surrender and climbed onto the couch with Dani and Clockwork.

Since Dani had Clockwork's head in her lap, Danny took the incentive and placed Clockwork's legs on his lap.

And so the Master of Time lay "sprawled" on top of his charges, but in all honesty he could not give a damn, he was quite comfortable and the Phantoms were enjoying it.

Dani would make strange, but gentle, designs in his hair and show them to Danny, who would try and fail to stifle his laughter all while tapping to a beat on his legs, strange as it sounded, it was quite relaxing, even Nocturne was amused.

"So dramatic"

"You're just jealous, the Phantoms love me more"

Nocturne simply stuck his tongue out in retaliation.

They laughed, until Dani piped up.

"Hey, where's Dan?"

"In his room, ignoring the world", commented Clockwork, " 's kinda something I want to do right now"

The Phantoms raised their brows at the Time Master in their laps. Nocturne understood.

"Headache started?"

A nod.

"I'll go get the ice"

When Nocturne was gone, Dani looked down at Clockwork with worry.

"It's not because the braids are too tight, right?"

"No, remember core exhaustion is like a cold"

"So it's a fever then?" Asked Danny.

"It's a headache until I start complaining about the heat"

"Well, you won't have to worry about that", smirked Danny.

"Yeah," piped Dani, "you have us, the prose of having ice cored ghosts as you charges!"

The then let a small burst of frost cover the Temporal ghost's hair and legs.

"Hey, I can hear the sound louder!" Danny beamed as he tapped the frost and the small 'tnk' resounded.

Clockwork simply chuckled.

"Now, now", said Nocturne as he walked back in, "don't let him get used to that, I don't think you can keep that up for a whole week"

"Oh yeah, but hey you never told us how you knew it would be a whole week" stated Danny with a curios tilt.

"His core child, a ghost's core can tell you many things, the type, the powers, the strength and the amount of energy"

"Cool"

"Indeed dear, but there's a catch, only family, friends, lovers or mates can touch another's core, but with the case of core exhaustion, it can cause pain, depending on how bad the case is, the less time it takes for it to hurt, the worse the case"

Dani gaped.

"What's the worst case scenario then? A month?"

"Two months should be the extreme Daniel and three days is the least I believe"

"So you don't have it that bad right?"

"No Danielle, it's more of an annoyance than anything"

"Mhm, wait till the third day, when nausea hits"

"Ugh, that's going to be hell, especially with you, since you oh so enjoy feeding people"

"You love me and you know it"

"Unfortunately"

"You mean quite fortunately"

Clockwork rolled his eyes and the Phantoms laughed at the two Master's display.

* * *

The Time Master had eventually fallen asleep on the laps of his charges, after an hour Clockwork's fever had risen and Dani and Danny made sure to keep the sleeping ghost as cool as possible.

"Hey Nocturne", asked Danny, "how long will he stay like this?

"A few days, the fever only started today after all, it should break by the third day"

Dani spoke this time.

"But isn't that when the nausea kicks in?"

"Yes, but that only lasts two days, see the fever is three, the nausea is two, that's five days out of the seven, day six is just restlessness, in his case he gets fidgety, day seven, I call that knock out day"

"Why?" Was the simultaneous question from the Phantoms.

"Because you can't wake him up for the hell of it on the last day, day eight he'll be slightly groggy but fine on the most part, and he'll be perfectly fine the next day"

"Wow, sounds like you'll be busy for a while"

"Yes but, it's the things you do, hmm?"

With that Nocturne brushed a stray lock off Clockwork's face.

"I'll go make us some lunch"

The Phantoms watched the Dream weaver leave with a small smile on their faces.

 _They really are close._

* * *

The Phantoms managed to slip out from under their mentor with out rousing him and went to eat the lunch the Dream ghost made.

Dani, being the thoughtful sprite she was, knocked gently on Dan's room door. Hearing no response she peeked in only to see that the paradox...was asleep!

The clone quietly closed the door and retreated into the kitchen. A few minutes later she returned to the eldest Phantom's room with a platter and a sticky note, placing it gently on his nightstand then leaving the room once more.

Passing back again to the kitchen, Dani asked for a cold glass of water, which Nocturne handed to her, she thanked him and was about leave when Danny, who was still at the table with his third plate of food, gave her a questioning glance, she simply shook her head and floated down to the Time Screen room.

Dani placed the glass on a near by coffee table then turned to the sleeping Time Master.

She really didn't want to wake him, he looked quite peaceful despite the fever plaguing him, but he'd have to eat something gain back his energy.

"Clockwork"

He stirred but did not wake, so she decided to shake him a bit.

The second her skin touched his shoulder, it jerked back, the movement was strange, as if it were shying away from her touch.

Her touch! Being a halfa, her body temperature was lower than a humans but higher than most ghosts.

The heat from her hands bothered him, Clockwork didn't like anything that was named heat when he had a fever, Nocturne told them about it when Danny asked if their ice powers would eventually bother him.

Realizing this, Dani quickly coated a layer of frost on her palms before attempting to wake the Time ghost.

"Clockwork"

He stirred.

"Clockwork"

Crimson eyes blearily opened.

"Danielle?" His voice was thick, cracked and laced with overall exhaustion.

"Hey, I got you some cold water", said the tiny Phantom gently as she held the glass out to him.

He blinked, once...twice before sitting up.

Dani gave him the glass and helped him drink it slowly.

* * *

"Well look who it is, nice of you to join us here Clock"

The Time ghost rolled his eyes

"Had to get a wake up call" he gestured to Dani behind him.

Said Phantom smiled and waved.

Everyone in the room laughed.

After Clockwork's lunch and Danny's fifth plate, the time Master ended right back on the Phantoms' laps.

They made sure to keep the Temporal ghost cool as he drifted in and out of awareness due to his fever.

At the end of the day, when Clockwork was in bed, sans cloak and tunic, 'because he was melting' and the Phantoms had left for home, Nocturne could only shake his head, looks like he was still on Babysitting duty.

* * *

Bonus:

When Dan Phantom, revenger of realms awoke, at something-thirty in the after-evening, he was quite surprised to smell the aroma of food in his room.

He knew very well he didn't take any food up with him last night, so the smell confused him, that is until he saw the plater and the sticky note attached to it.

 _ **Dear Dan, Clockwork says you might be ignoring the world today, so you do that, but remember, just because you can ignore the world, doesn't mean you have to do it on an empty stomach. ;)**_

 _ **~Dani.**_

The Phantom genuinely laughed.

"This fucking kid, if Clockwork isn't mothering me, she is".

Dan shook his head.

"I guess it's not so bad, having someone care for you"

He then bit into the somehow still warm food.

"Huh, this is a good sandwich"

* * *

 **AN/: And that's that, 1** **4** **pages.**

 **More Babysitting Nocturne for everyone, I didn't really get any requests so I continued it, and as for the Dan part, why not, and no I didn't make a mistake with the timing "something-30" just happens to be the time I usually wake up and "after-evening" is the greeting I use around 3 ish o'clock XD.**

 **Anyway yall know the deal, ask your questions, send your ideas** **and requests and I'm a write them.**

 **Love yall! ^-^**


	8. Two little Children

**AN/: Hey guys sorry for the delay, after Easter and school opened my life practically went down hill, tests back to back and my grades sunk, I apparently have to redo Calculus. Freaking Calculus, that shirt is hell man, I now have to tell mother that her child is a failure, god this sucks, but life. I promised Poly I would do this one for them, the same day I posted the last one and I never ever break my promises.**

 **Anyway Enjoy and Review**

 **DISCLAIMER: I do not own Danny Phantom**

* * *

Two little Children

"Hey Clockwork!"

Said Time Master looked up from his screens, and greeted his youngest charge.

"Hello Danielle, how are you today?"

"I should be asking you that, sorry me and Danny couldn't stay to keep you company during your whole core exhaustion thing, but the ecto filter for the Fenton Portal exploded and we had to fix it... and I'm just rambling 'cause you already know this, huh?"

A mock sympathetic nod was given.

"It's quite alright Danielle, after all dealing with a sick me, is not the best thing, I tend to complain, a lot."

"Really? Why?"

Clockwork shrugged.

"Not sure myself, I know very well that I shouldn't, but I do it anyway, makes things, _interesting_ I guess"

"Wow, sounds like Uncle Noccy had a rough week, speaking of, where is he?"

" _He had a rough week,_ he's likely at home asleep, I think he's probably tired of me and the Citadel, but give it a couple days and you'll see, he'll be right back here teasing me about what happened when I was sick"

Dani couldn't help but giggle at Clockwork's bemused yet wry tone.

"Wow, you must really be a terrible patient"

Clockwork just shrugged.

Dani giggled again.

"So..."

"Yes?"

"You busy"

"Not really, why?"

"Because, I got a question for you to answer"

"Oh? And pray tell what would that be?"

"How did you and Nocturne meet?"

* * *

A young ghost child was running as fast as he could, occasionally jumping and hoping onto the floating rocks the Ghost Zone was known for.

The running child looked to be about six or seven, dressed in an indigo cloak that was far darker than his shade of skin. He had crimson eyes that were wide with panic, shoulder length white hair blew about his face from the downed hood and his raged breath did not cease.

His pursuers were close behind, at his tail you could say, but the poor child couldn't form one, _not without risks at least._

"Get back here and face us, you white haired red eyed weirdo!" Yelled the leader of the pursuers. They were a group of five, children _of course_ , likely three years older than the runner.

"Yeah", shouted another, "White hair is for wise and powerful ghosts, your so stupid you can't even fly!"

The runner payed no mind, and instead kept, well _running_.

"What kind of ghost can't fly", mocked the only female of the group. "We learn that at formation, dunce!" She pounced.

"Aah!" The runner cried out, falling and rolling right back onto his feet. The girl was small, therefore light and fast, she managed to catch up and swipe the runner across the back with her claws.

It however did nothing more than tear a hole in the fabric of the cloak, she was only still a child after all. The recovering roll had bought the runner some distance and he was taking full advantage of it.

 _"Why, do they always pick on me? I didn't ask to have white hair, I was just formed this way!"_ Panted the runner to himself

 _" I really need to watch what I'm doing more often, if I only saw them in time, I could have avoided them from the beginning"_

The child kept running, up ahead was his destination, an island like realm with plenty of trees to hide in. Not only would he get to rest, but he would finally get rid of his pursuers as well, see that island wad known for its rumours, not like he was afraid, he could handle whatever was thrown his way.

 _Well, except for these guys_ , that's only because Mentor told him not to hurt ghosts weaker than him. What the fools didn't realize is that while he can't fly, he could still hurt them very much, as a matter of fact he could do that with his eyes closed, he wasn't being taught under a _Master_ for nothing, but said Master would be very angry at him if he did not follow orders.

His pursuers gasped when they realised where their prey was going, they wouldn't go there, they weren't stupid like the runner who probably didn't even know where he was going. The idiot continued running.

"Blast him!" shouted the leader.

The runner was almost there, just one more rock-

He heard it, the small whine or ectoplasmic energy concentrating to from a plasma blast. Normally a child's plasma was not strong, his being the exception of course, one wouldn't hurt if it hit him, he's had worse, but it wasn't one, five combined was basically equivalent to the power of his own _, that would hurt._

The wind blew past his head as the runner ducked and dodged the blast, however, he underestimated the speed and momentum he had and ended up barrel rolling straight into the brush of the Island.

The pursuers were shell shocked, the little weirdo dodged it! And rolled straight away, the coward!

"Come on, said one of the members.

"Yeah, he's dead meat in there anyway", said the other.

"Fine" agreed the leader and he turned to walk back.

The girl however, stuck up her nose haughtily, "I sure hope he is".

* * *

The runner kept rolling until he collided with something.

"Oof"-scratch that _someone_.

Unfurling himself to apologize to the being he crashed into, the runner was surprised to see- it was another ghost child!

"Sorry" they said simultaneously.

"Are you OK? " once again at the same time.

"Alright this is getting creepy" -

"Rock, Paper Scissors"-

The runner picked Scissors, the other picked paper.

"OK good, that was weird", said the other sticking out his hand. He looked about the runner's age and was garbed in a dress of stars, with a purple ram horn helmet which his shoulder length black hair pooled from under it, he had crimson eyes as well, they twinkled with child like glee and a small fanged smirk shown on his face.

"I'm Nocturne"

The runner shook the outstretched hand.

"I'm Clockwork"

* * *

"Wai- wai- wait, that's how you met, Rock Paper, Scissors?"

"Not exactly Danielle, and it wasn't _Rock, Paper, Scissors_ either, it was a different game but with a similar purpose, it was of course in a different language"

"Cool, but that's it? You just collided with each other and boom instant friends?"

Clockwork chuckled.

"No, not really child, we only became friends after a series of events, however they _were_ on the same day"

Dani smiled.

 _Story time._

* * *

"Nocturne hmm? Your the apprentice of the Master of Dreams"

"And your the apprentice of the Master of time, what are you doing so far from home, mission?"

"Actually, this is my day off, I'm guessing you have a mission? "

"Day off too, just wanted to relax"

"Huh, odd spot to relax in"

"You're one to talk, what are you doing here of all places? Where you chased? I don't think that tumble was for nothing", Nocturne's tone grew wry and he smirked

unless of course, you failed at a back flip

Clockwork smiled at that.

"Oh please, I learned to do back flips the second I learned to walk"

"Walk? Don't you mean fly?"

Clockwork drew back, he said too much.

Nocturne's head was tilted in confusion, making Clockwork feel all the more worse.

"You can't fly, can you?" The realization in the other's voice was enough.

Clockwork hung his head.

He swallowed dryly, his Mentor told him to stop talking before thinking, as always failure to follow orders gets him into trouble and now Nocturne was going to laugh at him.

And laugh he did.

"Y-you can't fly either!"

"Yes I know I can't fly- _either?"_

Nocturne wiped a tear from his eye, calming from his laughing fit.

"Yeah, I can't fly either, sorry for laughing, I know how it feels, but it's just so messed up how much we have in common"

 _He couldn't fly, he couldn't fly_ _ **either**_ _, he wasn't the only one!_

"So that's why you guessed I was being chased, you got chased yourself before haven't you?"

"Yeah, it's kinda how I ended up here and I'm guessing it's the same for you huh?"

"Mhm, hey let's look around shall we?

"Sure why not"

* * *

The foliage was tall, thick, green, glowing and beautiful.

Trees were huge and completely cloaked in long thick vines, a few plants at ground level, well they grew from ground level, sprouted some large pink flowers

on top of equally large and broad leaves that were far taller than both children.

As a matter of fact, the mere bushes were taller than them.

"Wow"

"I take it that this is your first time here huh?"

"Yeah, I don't usually travel far from the Citadel, today wa _s_ _..._ _an exception_ "

"Ouch, this is my second time here, far from home but hey at least it's quiet" Shrugged Nocturne nonchalantly.

"True, but how did you end up here? I know I was chased, but you?"

"Wasn't chased today, I just wanted to practice flying"

"Really? How did that turn out?"

"I finally landed perfectly, only to get rolled into"

Clockwork had the decency to look sheepish.

"Sorry about that"

"It's alright, not like we were hurt or anything"

At that Clockwork fingered his cloak, while he was not hurt per say, his cloak did have quite the nasty gash through it and he looked quite dusty from his tumble.

"Hey come on, I know where there's a huge river in this place, you can wash of there, wouldn't want you to go home and have your mentor scold you for looking like a wreck now would we? I know mine would, he's a bit of a neat freak"

Clockwork eyes his dusty appearance, his purple tunic was only mildly dirty, but his khaki pants had seen better days.

"Yeah sure, sounds fun"

* * *

"You weren't kidding when you said it was huge"

The river was indeed huge, especially so since they were currently on the edge of a waterfall that lead down to it.

"Yup"

With that Nocturne took a running leap and dived straight into the water.

He resurfaced a few seconds later.

"Come on jump! Trust me!"

"Is it a little too late to say I have trust issues?"

Clockwork eyed the edge nervously, he could swim, but jumping was a completely different story.

"Don't make me go up there and push you in, 'cause I will do it!"

"You can try, but I don't think you can"

"Come on, just jump!"

"No thanks, I'll find another way down"

"But that will take fore-lookout!"

With in an instant Clockwork found himself tackled into the water, narrowly avoiding a blast that could have ended his short afterlife.

The two boys sputtered, try to keep afloat.

"You-you teleported!"

"Y-yeah I had too, that thing was going to end you"

"Thanks but _you can teleport"_

'It's no big deal- hey when was your cloak purple? It must have been really dusty"

Nocturne looked down, trying to stem from the topic. But Clockwork was having nothing of it.

"Yes it is! You can teleport, that's why you can't fly"

"H-how do you know that?"

The miniature Dream weaver was startled that the other child knew.

"Because-incoming"

The green plasma blast headed straight for them.

 **FLASH!**

* * *

The flash of blue light died down to reveal the two boys soaked but far from the river.

"Because I can teleport too"

"You know, that makes a lot of sense"

The two looked at each other then bust out laughing.

"Wow, OK that's how many things we have in common?"

"About Three I think? We should make a list!"

Clockwork rolled his eyes.

"Yeah, how about after we figure out what was trying to end us?"

"Oh that, that was one of Pariah's soldiers, they come here some times, it's best you avoid them"

"I figured as much, is that why most ghosts don't come here?"

"Other than the fact that their cowards? Hmm, pretty much" Nocturne shrugged, stood up and phased the water off him.

"Huh"

Clockwork was already up and looking around. Nocturne strode up near him and they started forward.

"Wow, you got us pretty far, we're almost at the end of the Island!"

"Yeah, well I could have gotten us further but I have no idea where I am so..."

"It's cool, I don't think I could have gotten us this far that fast, I mean I can teleport completely out of here but it always takes a few seconds"

"Really? I can teleport distances quickly, except for when I'm going through different dimensions"

"I can do that too! It takes a bit but that's-"

"Only because it takes a lot out of me"

They laughed at their synchronization.

"Teleporting is fun and all but it sucks that we can't fly because of it"

"I know right?! I jumped a foot in the air and I ended up face down in a pile of snow at the FarFrosen"

"Wait you, the apprentice of Time, landing smack into the snow, those yeti guys must have gotten a kick out of that"

"Actually, they kinda helped me with the jumping, it's a good thing too because randomly Teleporting somewhere and back took a lot of energy, especially when I had to jump from rock to rock to get to nearby places"

"I had the same problem for like a week until I got the hang of it, but if you manage to scare me or something, boom! I'm in a different dimension, not even a nearby realm, just a straight up different dimension, that Tuesday was not fun"

Clockwork laughed.

"I can imagine, but the scare thing has happened to me before, well it happened just now, but you get what I'm saying"

"Yep, so what else can you do, besides Teleportation"

"Hmm, I can tell where another dimension or realm is, even from a distance"

"Hey me too! I can kinda sense it, and like if I touch the area I can create a portal, not a big one but still"

"Well portals too, let's see dimensional travel, check, I'm I can tell the time in any and every location I end up with, plus the name of the dimension or realm"

"Really? What time is it right now?"

"Exactly 12:22pm, I'm still working on learning the names of dimensions though, I'll get it eventually, but I know a few"

"Cool, do you know the name of this place?"

Clockwork shook his head.

"It's called the Keep"

"Why?"

"No clue, but it's fitting, considering how it wants to Keep you here"

"Hah, good one"

The two strode on till they reached the end of the island.

"There's another realm right there!" Pointed Nocturne

"Yeah I see it, should we go?"

To anyone else Nocturne would have been pointing at nothing, but the two apprentices could sense the realm, as a matter of fact they could stride up to it and disappear right in it.

That's exactly what they did.

* * *

"So where are we?"

"Not sure, it seems familiar"

"If you say so Nocturne, I've never been here so I don't know the name, but I can tell you that it's 1:27pm"

"Wow, we've been walking for a while, think we should take a break?"

"Mm, no I think we should keep going, besides I need to be back at the Citadel by four this evening, going through about two more realms should get me back at the Citadel through the whole round"

"Huh, I have a meeting with my Mentor at four, apparently it's something important, so I'm definitely not missing it, and from the Citadel, if I can concentrate hard enough it should only take two portals and I'm already in my room. I'll probably be more tired than anything else but hey, I'll be home"

"Cool and since the Citadel is surrounded by Temporal and Spatial energy, the first portal will be easy"

"Well that just gives me more time and saves me some energy"

They nodded and trudged forward.

It was already 2:30pm when they made it to the centre of the realm they were in.

"Hey, can we take a break?"

"You asked that five times already, are you that tired?"

"No but I'm _hungrrry_ "

"Poor baby, we've walked all this way and I haven't seen a single tree that produces edible fruit, so we keep going"

"Ughh!"

Clockwork was going to laugh at his dramatic new friend, but the poor guy looked miserable.

"Hey, maybe the next realm has something we can eat, we can take a break as soon as we find something"

"Fine, but if my core shuts down because it doesn't have enough energy because of starvation, I'm holding you to it"

This time Clockwork did laugh.

"Sure, whatever you say"

Their walk continued for what seemed like an hour, until...

"Hey, do you hear that?" Asked Clockwork.

"Hear what?" Nocturne cupped his ear.

There it was a small buzz like whine.

"Yeah but what is-duck!"

They dropped down in time to see the tree in front of them get blasted to smithereens.

Looking back they saw the figures of some soldiers that were approaching fast, one of them was right behind them, posed with a spear and ready to strike!

The boys shut their eyes tight, braced for pain, when it didn't come they slowly opened one eye, then the other.

"D-did we just jump two realms?"

Nocturne rolled onto his back.

"By the way my body feels, I think so"

Clockwork waisted no time and jumped to his feet, Nocturne got up slowly.

"Looks like we're safe for now"

"Looks like, wait were walking again aren't we?"

"We haven't found food remember? We rest when we eat"

" _Fiiine_ , but I can't believe you have so much energy after our narrow escapes"

"Speaking of, those soldiers were probably just a coincidence anyway, not like they could follow us right?"

"I highly doubt that, the realms are close, maybe they just wandered in?"

"Maybe".

* * *

The boys continued forward, with only this realm to go, home was practically at their feet, or so they thought.

Nocturne had stopped complaining about food, when the only thing he saw around him was an occasional red flower.

Clockwork was glad for the silence, it eased his headache, he wasn't so sure why he had a headache, but every so often his vision would blur and he'd have to rub his eyes to continue.

At one point he had to stop completely, his body felt heavy and his head started spinning.

"Hey, you okay?" Asked Nocturne with a hand on his shoulder.

"I'm f-fine"

"You sure? Maybe we should stop for a while, you look pale"

Clockwork shook his head.

"N-no we should keep going, home isn't that far right? The sooner we get there the better"

Nocturne eyed his new friend worriedly, but the other was adamant.

"If you say so, but we skipped two realms, can't get any sooner than that"

"Hnn"

* * *

Nocturne ended up leading, occasionally looking back to check on Clockwork, who was starting to slow. Every few minutes he'd shake his head or rub his eyes, the poor guy was probably just as tired as he was and just as hungry, teleporting took a lot of energy, but the only things around them were trees and red flower-

Clockwork swayed.

Nocturne rushed back to catch him, but he managed to steady himself on a nearby tree.

"M-maybe we should take that break you wanted"

The Time Apprentices' eyes were closed, he looked nothing than more ready to pass out.

"Actually no, I just realized where we are, those red flowers were a big give away, it's not a good idea for you to fall asleep here"

"What?"

"Yeah come one, we're in the centre, it's worse here, the edge should be better"

With that Nocturne placed one of Clockwork's arms around his shoulder and proceeded walking.

"OK you literally explained nothing, where are we and why do I feel like I'm fighting with my eyelids and losing?"

"That's because you are, and we're in a branch realm of the Keep, it's why we were able to jump through two other realms so quickly, they all look the same because it's actually a piece of the original, that's why they're so close together."

"That explains the spontaneous jump, but not why I feel like I haven't slept in 12 days"

"Look down"

"The ground?"

"Wha-No! Further"

Clockwork did as told, and there below the thick earth was another dimension.

"The underworld"

"Yeah, more specifically, we're above Hypnos' cave, poppies ring a bell?"

"The red flowers! Ugh! How did I not see that?"

"Heh, don't worry about it, took me just as long to figure it out"

"But still- hey how come you don't feel all sleep deprived?"

"Don't know, partial immunity? I mean I work with Dream dust, aka knock out powder, on a daily bases so..." Nocturne shrugged.

"Not fair- wait partial?"

"Even I get tired if I stay here too long, worse when I'm hungry"

"Ugh, don't speak to me of food right now, my head is spinning"

"Poor baby"

* * *

Clockwork tried hard to stay awake, but he ended up nodding off once or twice"

"Hey, stay with me, the second we reached that tree over there", Nocturne pointed at a large tree in the distance" then we can rest"

"Why do I feel like you're mocking me?"

"Because I am, but only just a little, I feel as tired as you do"

"Sorry"

"It's alright, us flightless ones gotta stick together after all, we need to show this bastards who teased us, that we can fly _and_ teleport, right?"

"Right!"

"Ugh, the tree is too far!"

"Pfft! Nocturne I'm so done with you right now"

"Mmn, no you're not, I'm very lovable"

"Sure you are"

* * *

The second they reached the tree, they all but collapsed under it.

"Finally! My feet are killing me, how you doing over there Clock-oh"

The young Temporal ghost was on the ground, sound asleep.

"Must've been more tired that he thought"

In the quiet of the dimension's forest, the ticking of Clockwork's core was steady, almost...soothing.

"Alright, as peaceful as you look, I doubt the ground could be comfortable, come 'ere"

With that Nocturne gently placed his sleeping friend on his lap, almost instinctively, he found himself gentle raking his fingers through soft white locks.

"He must have it bad", thought Nocturne to himself.

All ghosts who have white hair or red eyes are considered to powerful and wise, to have both, especially at a young age, and toping it off with the fact of no flight, must be quite the torture.

All younglings where formed with the ability to fly, but they were never formed with the ability to teleport nor did they have white hair or red eyes, those were normally things that came with age, experience and power.

It's no wonder the other children didn't like them, they were _too young and too weird_ , the adults either feared them or where disgusted by them. Very few knew who they were though, as a matter of fact they've never met, they only knew each other's names because their Masters told them, it was hard but they preferred it that way.

If the others suddenly knew they were apprentices of _The_ Masters, they would have probably been treated differently. That would have lead to little more than fake friends and a ton of favours.

A strange and sudden sound caused Nocturne to snap awake from his doze but Clockwork was still very much asleep.

"Hey", Nocturne shook him gently, "let's get going"

Bleary crimson eyes opened.

"Y-yeah sure" his voice was heavy with sleep.

Clockwork slowly got up with one hand, rubbing his eyes with the other.

* * *

While Clockwork felt slightly better from the brief rest, Nocturne was acting paranoid?

It was subtle, and if Clockwork wasn't so close, he might have missed it. Nocturne moved as if he knew someone was watching him, trying to figure if his friend found danger first, he did the same.

To his left! A shadow moved swiftly, in and out of peripheral sight.

"It couldn't be a soldier right? They weren't so...so sneaky!"

The Time apprentice's mind was reeling.

Then it happened.

A soldier shot out of the brush ahead and sent a blast straight for them!

Clockwork jumped back.

 _It didn't happen?_

His eyed widened in realization and he quickly tackled Nocturne.

The plasma blast sailed over their heads not a nanosecond later.

The boys jumped to their feet and made a break for it.

It was more than one soldier, it made sense, every time they saw a shadow, they asumed it was one solider following them, but no, they just ended up passing a group of them.

They kept running forward, not slowing once.

"How did you do that?" Shouted Nocturne as they ran.

"I saw it"

"No way, I didn't see a thing and it was in front of me!"

"No, I didn't see it like that, I saw it before it happened"

"You mean like a vision?"

"Yeah, but I'm not supposed to get those till later! I'm only seven!"

"Wait you're Seven? I'm Eight, I can't believe I'm older than you!"

"Now is not the time to be commenting on my age!"

"Yeah well-Ahh!"

 **FLASH!**

* * *

They made the mistake of looking back only to see a large ball of plasma coming towards them.

They ended up teleporting of course.

Problem was, they didn't land on anything.

"AAAAAAAAAAHH!"

Literally dropping from who knows where they couldn't help but scream.

Instinct kicked in and they flew up mid way, they were flying plus they were terrified. Instant teleportation no questions asked.

When they popped up on what seemed like a platform Clockwork instantly started laughing. Nocturne looked at him as of he were insane.

"What are you laughing about?! We almost got destroyed!"

Clockwork only smirked and pointed behind him.

Nocturne turned to see that behind him was a large Clock Tower and that the platform beneath him was the door step, they made it!

"I'm so done with you man, I can't believe this, how much realms did we jump in one day?!"

"Eh about four, but we teleported at least six times and it's just 3:30!"

"OK, now that's an accomplishment"

"You're telling me, wow its just so-"

"Weird!"

 _ **Ah simultaneousness**_.

"Well, you're home now, let's see if I can get to mine"

"Maybe I can help, I can get the energy for the portal, you just direct it"

"Eh, it's worth a shot, let's do it"

Clockwork opened the portal and Nocturne directed it as planned. The image through the portal was one Nocturne was quite familiar with and he wasted no time in jumping through.

"Whoa, is that your room?" Asked Clockwork from the other side of the portal.

"Yup, hey maybe we should hang out more often"

"Sure, just with less random teleporting and definitely no red flowers"

Nocturne laughed.

"You got it!"

The second the portal closed, Nocturne headed for the shower, but not before removing the Purple ram horns and telling a Sleepwalker to notify his Mentor that he had reached.

After his shower the Dream child retreated to his room and practically passed out after.

Several minutes later he was woken up by a Sleepwalker, he was going to ignore it when he remembered that he had asked it earlier to wake him up before 4:00pm.

He knew that he was going to practice his flying and expected to end up teleporting, so he had planned to get some rest before the meeting, it was a good thing he planned ahead of time.

Thanking the Sleepwalker, he quickly spread his bed and combed his hair before donning his Purple horns and leaving to find his Mentor.

He stood in front of his Mentor at exactly 3:59.

"Come along Child"

With that Master and apprentice teleported.

"Nocturne, this is the Master of Time and his apprentice-"

"Clockwork, this is the Master of Dreams and his apprentice-"

The two apprentice looked at their respective Mentors then at each other and they instantly bust out laughing.

* * *

"And we've been best friends ever since"

"Ok, so let me get this straight, you two were hurrying met coincidentally, then found out that you both had a meeting, you guys rushed to make it for that meeting only to find out that the meeting was for you two to meet each other?!"

"Mmn, basically"

Dani instantly started laughing.

"Oh, oh my god I cant-"

she was still laughing and trying to catch her breath.

"Yes, it was quite an amusing day, we got into far more trouble than that however".

"Really? The follow the rules Master of Time, getting into trouble? Wow, now I've heard it all"

Clockwork smirked.

"Hmm, since you've heard it all, I won't have to tell you, now would I?"

"What?! No! I wanna know what you two did!"

"Maybe some other time, it is getting late-"

"It's only three!"

"3:45"

"Still three"

"Even so dear, Daniel will be looking for you, and you didn't tell him that you were coming here"

"Hey, I told Jazz, I told a responsible adult my whereabouts, I can't get in trouble"

"True, I'll give you kudos for being responsible, but you know, Daniel may get jealous that you got 'story time' and he didn't"

"He met you first, let me have my time"

Clockwork laughed.

"As amusing as that is, someone has to tell him this story and I'm appointing you the one to do it, think you can manage?"

Dani gave a mock salute.

"I'm on it! See ya round Clockwork!"

"Bye Danielle"

* * *

When Dani left, Clockwork opened a portal and stepped in. It was a dark Purple room, the curtains were drawn, making it look even darker. On the bed was the owner, a mere lump under the bed sheets and few stray locks of black hair.

Clockwork smirked and proceeded to poke the "lump" on its shoulder.

"Hey sleeping beauty, how are feeling?"

 _"Ngh, noo, 'm tired, my head hurts, le me alone!"_

"It's why I'm here, to make sure you're ok, I'll go get the ice"

Clockwork returned a minute later with an ice pack and placed it gently on Nocturne's forehead.

"Hey"

"Yes?"

"You staying?"

"For a bit"

"-K, your pillow then"

"Fine"

With that Nocturne was in Clockwork's lap.

"Better?" Asked Clockwork as said Time Master ran his fingers through his friend's hair.

"Mhm, I have a headache right now, but you know I'm still eventually going to tease you about last week, so what did you do tody?"

"Oh you know, explaining to Danielle how we met"

"You mean when we couldn't fly, without teleporting?"

"Exactly that"

"You know, I never got to see you jump off that Waterfall"

"No, no you did not and you probably never will"

"I'm done with you, I swear"

"No you're not, I'm very lovable"

"Sure you are"

* * *

 **AN/: I like to think that the term Master of (Time, Dreams etc.) Was a big deal, they were up there in power and still are, all ghosts respect them for not only the title but the power they possess.**

 **About the Keep, it's called Pariah's keep after it was destroyed and his sarcophagus of forever sleep was placed there.**

 **The soldiers were his skeleton army guys, you know. I imagine that both Clockwork and Nocturne were kids while the war with Pariah was going on.**

 **Their Mentors couldn't interfere because rules, but they tried to give their apprentices as much of their childhood as possible. The other children, not so much.**

 **You know how kids are, it doesn't matter if the world is ending some of them are still gonna be tiny assholes.**

 **Anyway yall know the deal, ask your questions, send your ideas and requests and I'm a write them.**

 **I got a question for you guys, do you prefer long drabbles or short ones?**

 **Love yall! ^-^**


	9. Mother

**AN/: Hey guys sorry for the delay, had finals and all. I Posted this one on Mother's Day, at like 11-ish specifically because it was requested to have Clockwork mothering the Phantoms and I threw in a little Nocturne there because, who doesn't like Uncle Noccy?**

 **Anyway Enjoy and Review**

 **DISCLAIMER: I do not own Danny Phantom**

* * *

 **M** **other**

Nocturne was rudely awakened by the sound of furious knocking on his door.

He knew it wasn't Clockwork, the bastard would just teleport into his room, like he did the evening before.

While he did manage to get a bit of sleep, thanks to the aforementioned Master of Time, his headache was very much present, that's what he gets for being nice.

The knocking continued, and some how it seemed even more obnoxious than before.

The ones knocking, so insistently at the door, where the Observants.

"Nocturne, Master of Dreams open this door at once!"

He did.

"What?!"

The Observants took in the Appearance of the Dream Master, he did not wear his Purple horns, his long black locks were thoroughly dishevelled and he had a sour look on his face, which clearly stated that he just woke up.

"Did you just wake?" Asked on of the Observants.

Nocturne rolled his eyes.

"Yes I did, now if that's all you came to bother me for, I would like to get back to sleep".

That said, the Dreamweaver turned and began closing the door. This seemed to make the Observants unhappy as one lashed out quickly and effectively stopped the door from closing.

Nocturne's eyes widened, while the Observant's eye narrowed.

"You were sleeping on the job?! How disgraceful! You've been loitering around all this time, not doing your work and disrupting balance, so much so that the council sent us here, to check on you, they'll be disappointed to know that you were simply being lazy and uncouth!"

Nocturne's eye twitched.

 _ **Uncouth? Lazy?**_ _After all I'm doing? How fucking dare they!_

He would forever blame that his tiredness was the reason.

The reason he snapped.

"Listen here you one eyed mother fuckers, I am _not_ Clockwork, you can't come barging in on _my lair,_ talk to _me_ like that and expect me to put up with it, as a matter of fact he shouldn't have to put up with it either! I've been busy, that's why I'm tired and that's why I was asleep!"

"Oh?, and what was your business pray tell."

"You egotistical pricks know very well that, about a week ago, the council held a meeting in _activesin_ -"

"Yes and I recall, you were not to be there, so that is no excuse"

Nocturne rolled his eyes.

"No I wasn't there, I was babysitting for Clockwork, you should know that-"

"For only 48hrs, that couldn't have been the reason you're oh so tired".

The Observant looked smug.

"No it's not, but it is the reason Clockwork was though, you of all beings should know how much energy it takes to fix and or destroy a timeline, let alone five. Yet you assholes still held the meeting in _activesin_ , you didn't even give the poor bastard a moments rest-"

"I still don't see what this has to do with you being-"

"That's because you sad fuckers have an eye the size of your heads but yet you're fucking blind, when Clockwork came back, you know what happened? Core exhaustion, he came back literally sick and tired-"

"So-"

" _ **So**_ , I had to take care of him, for that entire week you gave him off, that barely even covered it, he should have gotten a week and a half at least since you wouldn't give him the two weeks like everyone else"

"That still doesn't explai-"

"I didn't sleep the two nights I was babysitting nor did I sleep the week Clockwork was ill-"

"Why? You wasted your own time, you have no one to blame but yourself, you didn't have to-"

"No I didn't _have_ to do anything, but you wanna know why I did? _**Because I fucking care you selfish assholes,**_ I care that's why I helped, and that's why I haven't slept for more than an hour in a week and four days, the night before I returned to my lair and started work, I continued till I got a headache, which by the way I still have, I was trying to sleep it off when you all had the audacity to call me lazy and uncouth"

"You claim you worked, but the council members have not seen it-"

"I have other work besides giving those bastards their good dreams, do you think the Sleep dust makes itself? I have to make more and restock, which is what I was doing yesterday, now if you'd excuse me, I'd like to go back to sleep so I can get rid of the even _bigger_ headache you all gave me"

The door slammed shut so quickly this time, the Observants had no chance to stop it.

The door then opened again, Nocturne came out glaring. His aura was _**very**_ threatening.

"If you think you're going to pester Clockwork about this, think again, if I find any of you at his lair, for the rest of this week," he pointed at them, "it's gonna be me and you, and trust me, while Clockwork has more patience, I have a lot less mercy"

The door slammed shut again, this time the Observants gulped audibly.

* * *

"Squirt, go left!"

"On it!"

"Kid move your ass!"

"What does it look like I'm doing asshole?!"

"Watch your language you little fucker, maybe you should be a little like Squirt over there, she's got manners, she listens and she's doing a hell lot more than you!"

"Well _excuse me_ for not having as much energy as my younger kid clone!"

"Uh, guys"

The gargantuan monstrosity came closer, the two male Phantoms were still arguing and remained unaware.

The ghost, they were fighting, was for a lack of a better term, freaking huge, it looked like a giant brown bear, mixed with a goffer with a black, cone like, horn on its head. Its claws were long and sharp and the bastard knew how to use them, its fangs leaked an ectoplasmic foam, making it look rabid.

The Phantom trio had managed to weaken it a bit, but not with out injuries to themselves. The rest of the original team Phantom where handling the Fentons, the giant ghost had punted the RV all the way to lake eerie.

That left them without weapons and without backup, the beast was a _slowish_ , but heavy hit, which meant dodging more than attacking, and of course that frustrated them to no end, the boys especially.

"Your always bossing me around, I know what I'm freaking doing!"

Danny was pissed.

"You don't know shit, the only thing that gets you out of your messes is luck!"

Dan's hair was crackling with his rage.

"Uh guys?"

Dani was left floating off the side of the two, watching as the goffer-bear thing came closer.

"How 'bout you say that to my face, you jerk!"

"If you haven't fucking noticed, I did say it to your face, you fucking idiot, but if you don't want it in words, how 'bout my fist!"

Dan had grabbed Danny by he neck and was about to punch him in the face, when Dani got fed up.

" **WOULD YOU TWO JUST FREAKING SHUT UP AND** _ **MOoooOOOooOve!"**_

Her ghostly wail was far more high pitched than the boys, and it may have not been as strong but high pitched sounds have always hurt the ears more than the rest of the body.

The beast thrashed about, it's weird paws trying in vain to cover it's assaulted ears, Dan and Danny, we're unfortunately doing the same.

Dan snapped out of it first, grabbing Danny and throwing him behind Dani, he landed roughly, but was able to get back on his feet, albeit shakily. Dan turned to mist and followed the suit. Dani kept up her wail and the boys followed.

If you were there you would have seen a strange sight, Dani's wail fit into Danny's, which fit into Dan's and the triple sound wave blasted the beast into non-existence.

The second the beast was destroyed, Dani stopped and a white ring around her mid-section flashed as she turned from ghost to human and fell unconscious.

Danny and Dan had stopped as well and caught the falling child.

"Damn squirt"

"She did the wail, she's only 13, oh that's not fair!"

"Hey you got yours early too, you know"

"Yeah but she was still in the air when she did it, the first time I learned I had to do it standing!"

"Same, little brat learned some tricks"

"Yeah and she saved our behinds today, even if I'm gonna be a bit deaf later"

"Oh please, you were already hard of hearing before, don't blame squirt for your problems"

With that, Dan Phantom quickly picked up Dani out of Danny's arms and carried the unconscious child to Fenton works.

"Dan you jackass!"

"Heh heh"

* * *

Dani awoke about an hour later to find herself bandaged but alone in the lab.

Confused to why they left her there instead of taking her to a room, she went upstairs and looked around. She found no one, _strange_ , she was about to leave the house, when the news on the T.V caught her attention.

 _"Another large group of ghosts_ _,_ _are attacking downtown Amity Park-"_

That's all Dani needed to hear, she went ghost and took off.

"Kid, I'm not gonna tell ya to move your ass again!"

"Look man, I'm trying my best here!"

The two were back to back, blasting any ghosts who came too near, they've been fighting for half an hour, their aim was slightly off at times, as if only to prove their ever growing exhaustion.

"Well try harder!"

"Would you just get off my back?!"

"Unfortunately no, you die and Clockwork's gonna maim and torture me"

"I thought you were gonna say kill"

"I'm already dead kid"

Danny was about to retort, when suddenly one of the ghost came straight up to him with a charged plasma ball. The Phantom boy's eyes widened in horror, there was no way that wouldn't leave a scratch.

A green plasma blast came from out of nowhere, and blasted the ghost away.

"Hey guys need some hel- woah!"

She barely dodged a blast from another ghost, her body had still not fully recovered from the strain earlier. Dan noticed.

"Squirt, you've done enough"

"But-"

"Get back and go home"

"I just wanna-"

"Look, you're too weak, go home, we can handle it"

"But"

"Dani, I hate to agree with Dan, but he's right, you need to leave"

"Fine!"

With that she let loose a charged blast, that neither male realized she had or was capable of. The blast took out a good eight ghosts, The Phantom males looked back to question their youngest only to see that she already flew off.

A narrowly dodged blast to Dan's face reminded them of their current situation.

Meanwhile Dani flew back to Fentonworks with tears pricking the corners of her eyes, she however refused to let them fall. When she reached, she went straight through the lab and into the portal.

"If they think I'm weak, fine, I'll get stronger, I'll show them and I know exactly who can help me"

* * *

"You want me to train you?"

"Yes"

"Just like that?"

"Just like that"

"Alright, but I have to ask, what brought this on?"

"Well, you've taught me many things before-"

" History lessons and a little fun with telekinesis, are hardly many things"

"Clockwork come on! I just wanna get stronger so I don't have to depend on anybody"

"Child it doesn't matter who or what you are, powerful or not, you always need to depend on someone, it's nature"

"Wha-? Oh! Not like that, I meant so that I would get strong enough so that they won't have to worry so much about me"

Clockwork sighed.

He was about to say something, when she cut him off.

"I get what you mean though, like you and Nocturne, you're all powerful and all that, but you still need help sometimes, that's why you're there for each other"

Clockwork chuckled.

"I see, good to know that our first lesson got through"

Dani giggled.

"I already said I would train you, so come, but be quiet, Nocturne's asleep"

"He's here? Why?"

"We'll train then we'll talk"

* * *

The training room was underneath the Library, like a would be basement of sorts, if of course the basement looked like a high-tech work out/gymnastics facility.

"Wow, work out much?"

Clockwork was going to say something about the child's sarcastic tone, when he realized that it was more awe than sarcasm.

Dani was wide eyed, looking at the high beam, to the Monkey bars, she was pretty sure the left wall was a climbing wall, there were pull up bars and some other things work out gear she couldn't name.

When she turned to Clockwork, who had a raised brow but was looking amused, she blushed, but getting so caught up in wonder wouldn't do her any good, so she schooled her features into a determined one.

Clockwork noticed and smirked internally, the child was tired, slightly injured but yet 100% determined, she'll make quite the student.

While both Danny and Dani considered Clockwork their Mentor, other than history lessons and a couple tidbits of life advice, this would be the first time he actually trained, well at least one of them.

"OK, let's start with the things you know, we'll test your speed, strength and accuracy, then we'll work on the improvements"

"Right!"

"Speed- 125mph, well done"

"That's not nearly as fast as Danny is"

"Actually it's faster, well at least than that of when he was 14"

"Yeah, but he's 16 and he's at 130 something mph!"

"Yes, but you're 13 going on 14, yet you're faster than he was"

"Well yes bu-"

"And you learned your ghostly wail today, yes? Dan Learned that at 24, Daniel learnt it at 14 and you at 13 and even so you handled it quite well, for a longer time than either of the older Phantoms and while flying, a feat neither of them could do on the first try"

Dani tried to say something but the words wouldn't form, she ended up looking like a fish. Clockwork chuckled and gently lifted her chin. He looked at her at eye level and spoke to her with compassionate eyes and cool yet firm voice.

"You want to be independent, you want to be strong, so stop comparing, yourself to the other two, you are your own person, if you want to get stronger, you become stronger, not by trying to beat them, but by reach their level and further, but things like strength take time, and I have time, do you?"

Her eyes blazed with determination and she gave a bold nod.

And then her determined eyes flashed with something else.

"I can't believe you made a Time pun, I'm so done with you right now, you've been spending way too much time with Danny"

Clockwork chuckled.

"I'm surprised you caught that"

"Hey, I'm an attentive listener"

The Time Master quirked a brow.

"At times"

They laughed.

* * *

"Alright, a deal is a deal, our training session's over for today, tell me why O'l uncle Noccy is here and by the way, when do I come back for another training session?"

"When are you free?"

"On weekday afternoons, when Danny and the others go to school, I would come here to bother Dan but he says not to wake him before noon, and I rather not mess with an even grumpier than usual Dan"

"Ah that's right, you don't go to school, remind me why again?"

"Because as a twelve year old, I knew things a fourteen year old knew, it's pointless to send me to a middle school when I already know the stuff there, so Jazz says, when I'm fourteen, she'll enrol me into Casper High herself "

Clockwork sighed.

"Very well, but you do know I won't always be free at that time"

"Yeah, I was wondering how would I know if I training or not, I don't wanna fly all the way here and find out that you were too busy, then I'll have to go back and be bored"

"Hmm, I have an idea, we can work out the details later, after you clean up and come back"

Dani looked down at herself, blushing when she realised that she was still a bit dusty and grimy from the day's earlier activities and now some sweat and a little ectoplasm clung to her like a second skin.

"Sure thing, but you still need to tell me why Nocturne's here"

"Well a deal is a deal"

* * *

The Master of Time was watching his Time Screens when he sensed a portal open up behind him.

He knew the ghostly aura so he didn't bother to turn around.

"Hey Clockwork!"

"Yes?"

"Hi!"

At the reply, the Temporal ghost, quickly spun around and raised a quizzical brow at his friend.

At seeing said friend, Clockwork couldn't help but sigh.

"Nocturne what did you do?"

"Nothing!"

The Dream weaver was a little too cheery.

"Oh really, what where you doing before you came here?"

"I was working"

"On?"

"Stuff"

"Nocturne!"

"Fine, fine, I was working on making some Dream dust from the poppies at Hypnos' cave"

"Nocturne, you do know that those things are loaded with a copious amount of Oxytocin, right?"

"Yep, and a bit of an aphrodisiac!"

Clockwork grimaced, his friend was being far too chipper for his liking. It was only worse when Nocturne hugged him from behind.

"Nocturne?"

"Hmm?"

"Why are you hugging me?"

"Because you're warm"

The simple reply was all that was said as the Dream Master buried his head in the curve of Clockwork's neck.

Said Time Master's tone went from annoyed to concerned.

"You're cold?"

"Mhm"

"Poor baby"

"Don't be mean"

"Kinda hard to do when you're nuzzling my neck like a love sick puppy"

His response was a harder nuzzle.

"Why where you working on those anyway, weren't you tired?"

"Yes, and I was trying to sleep when those one eyed assholes came knocking at my door"

"The Observants? What were they doing there?"

"They wanted to tell me that the council was wondering why I wasn't doing my job"

"And what did you do?"

"I told them off"

"Good for you"

"I ended up with a headache 'cause of those bastards, I went to bed, but couldn't sleep, so I went to try to deal with the essence extraction from the flowers"

"And let me guess, when you were trying to extract the essence, it blew up?"

"Mhm"

"You said it was a partial aphrodisiac right? Did you remove it?"

"Nope"

"And why not"

"Because mating season"

"Mating season is months away"

"Yes but it makes it easier on me"

"How so?"

"If couples want to mate, they mate and prudes like you can just sleep"

"I am not a prude"

" _Suuure_ "

"But really, why were you messing with the poppies?"

"To help you"

"Oh?"

"Mhm, your stupid insomnia, wanted to fix it"

"Pfft, if it was that easy"

"It is, I just gotta figure it out!"

"Sure"

The Time Master rolled his eyes.

"But really, how high are you right now?"

"On like a level of one to ten?"

"Yes"

"Like an eight, yeah eight seems right"

"Oh you poor thing"

"Don't be mean, I wasn't mean to you when you were sick"

"True, but your high as hell, and your lair is probably covered in the stuff, so how 'bout you stay in one of my guest rooms?"

"-K, but carry me"

"And why should I?"

"Because I carried you that Wednesday"

"I couldn't feel my legs!"

"I carried you Wednesday, Thursday and Friday"

"Fine I'll carry you"

"Good"

With that Clockwork carried his friend up to the guestrooms piggyback style, all while Nocturne, nuzzled and nipped at his neck.

"Would you stop, messing with my neck?"

"Mmn, nope!"

Clockwork sighed.

"The things I do for my friends"

When they finally reached the guest room, Clockwork deposited Nocturne on to the bed and the Dream Master practically passed out on contact.

The Temporal ghost rolled his eyes but covered his friend with the sheet.

* * *

"And he's been asleep since".

Dani laughed.

"So that's why you have a hickey?"

Clockwork's eyes widened and he pulled at his collar frantically.

"I have a hickey? I don't have a hickey. If I have a hickey, I'm gonna kill him!"

"Pfft, naw, you don't, just messing with ya!"

"You devil child!"

"Heh, bye Clockwork"

"See you later, Danielle"

As soon as Dani left, Clockwork headed up to check on his 'guest'.

Finding the Dream Master still asleep, he went down to his Screen room to call a _certain someone_ to help him get a gift.

* * *

When Dani reached the boys had just reached as well.

"Where were you Dani?"

"With Clockwork, I'm heading back, after I shower"

The boys looked at each other again then Danny elbowed Dan in the gut.

"Ugh, fine, hey squirt?"

"Yeah?"

"Look I'm sorry, about today, I didn't mean to call you weak, I meant to say you were hurt and you wouldn't really help"

He then face palmed.

"That didn't come out how I wanted, what I meant was-"

"I get it, thanks Dan and you too Danny, I know someone had to get him to talk"

Dan rolled his eyes and Danny chuckled.

"We'll go with you to Clockwork's"

"What?! But the boxing match!"

Danny glared at his future self.

"Fine, we'll go see the ticking bastard!"

"Cool," beamed Dani, "hey cheer up Dan, maybe he'll let you watch the boxing match"

And that he did.

* * *

Well kinda, as soon as they reached the boys found themselves ushered to the couch, where ended up being dotted on by Clockwork.

When Dani had finished taking a shower the boys took one and then they left, neglecting to bandage their wounds. Dan, because he refused to look weak and Danny because he thought they'd be healed by the time he reached.

Clockwork commended them on their stupidity as he proceeded to wrap the gauze around Dan's left shoulder. He had already finished with Danny's midsection.

When the Phantoms had been thoroughly bandaged Clockwork walked off only to reappear with a hot and a cold pack. The Time Master gave the packs to their respective ghosts, and by respective I meant opposites. He gave the hot pack to Danny as his muscles were numb and the cold pack to Dan as his muscles were sore.

"Oooh, that's gonna leave a mark", winced Danny.

"And so will that", this time Dani winced.

"Oh please, I can do those move in my sleep"

Both Dani and Danny turned to Dan.

"Shhh!"

The eldest Phantom blinked in shock, while Clockwork laughed quietly behind him.

Nocturne came shuffling down a few minutes later, however Clockwork was the only one who saw him.

"Hey"

"Hey, yourself"

"Rude"

"Hardly, so on what level are you now?"

"Eh, from eight to like four or five, it's deal able but tomorrow's gonna be hell"

"You can count on that"

"What are the kids watching?"

"Boxing"

"Huh, didn't take them for boxing fans"

"Where not," piped Dani from the side, apparently she did see Nocturne's arrival.

"Dan likes it because he can watch violence with out getting into trouble, Danny watches it to make Dan doesn't do anything stupid and I watch it to makes sure they don't fight, in the end, we all kinda ended up liking it, though we have know idea who the person is or what their names are, we just like the punches 'n stuff"

Nocturne shrugged.

"Huh fair enough for me"

With that he looked to Dani and opened his arms, the little girl understood and willingly accepted the hug.

* * *

Third round through, Danny and Dan were lounging on the couch, no one else sat with them despite the space, only because every so often one of them, sometimes both, would rise and yell angrily at the screen.

Nocturne sat hugging in Dani in his lap, his arms were crossed on her middle, leaving an 'X' on her midsection, while his chin rested lightly on her head.

"Hey Clockwork, I'm a teady bear"

The female Phantom giggled at the Time Master who was beside her.

Said Temporal ghost shook his head but smiled anyway.

"Better you than me"

"Heh, true"

"Oh, here before I forget"

Dani watched as Clockwork pulled something out of his cloak.

Dani's eyes widened when she realized what it was.

"Is that a-"

"Yes, yes it is"

A Midnight Purple 3Ds with lots of little temporal gear stickers around it.

"It's yours, to keep you occupied when you can't train or when the others are to busy."

"Oh wow, thank you, but-"

"This will also be your signal, to join me for training, you leave this on your drawer, if it disappears, I have it and the only way for you to get it back-"

"Is if I come train, right?"

"Exactly"

"Thank you Clockwork"

"Not a problem My dear"

"How did you get this anyway?"

"Oh, I have my ways"

Dani rolled her eyes at the sly smirk Clockwork gave her.

* * *

 **AN:/ for any of those wondering, Oxytocin is a hormone that the body produces naturally, but of course someone had to make a drug out of it. It's called The "Cuddle drug" or the "Social enhancer". It's normally used with to build an attachment or bond from a mother to her new born child. It's also the reason we can socialize and such, it can be slipped into a drink like a roofie or something, it usually leaves someone "clingy". Though it's not really an aphrodisiac, if the advances of the "clingy" person are taken , well one thing would lead to another.**

 **So basically the flowers had a shit ton of Oxytocin in it, poor Nocturne got doused and he got high off it. Because It's really one of the mild drugs he wouldn't have lashed out or anything, he just became clingy, he kept nipping and nuzzling Clockwork for the same reason and also because the flowers themselves had a slight aphrodisiac tendency, but since Clockwork didn't respond to the advances and because the poor guy was tired he stopped and opted for sleep** **.**

 **He still woke up clingy though, hence the need for the** **teady** **bear Dani.**

 **I'm gonna continue this bit, with two other short parts, because this one was long enough already. They'll be called Gift and Training, the first will be focusing on how Clockwork got the 3Ds and the Second would be Dani's training with said Time Master.**

 **Don't worry I'll still be taking requests, I'll maybe even join your ideas with my own to make things interesting.**

 **Speaking of requests, I was going to put Poly's one in here about Clockwork and Nocturne fangirling about something, but that would have killed the whole, motherly thing, you know? Don't worry dear, I will have them doing that in one of my other drabbles, but for now enjoy the Phantoms being "enthusiastic" about boxing.**

 **By the way, I do have a Midnight Purple 3Ds and it's awesome, I currently have, SSB4, Kirby, Legend of Zelda a Link between worlds, Mario brothers, Luigi's Haunted Mansion etc. So yeah those are the games Dani now has XD.**

 **Anyway you guys know the drill, send me your requests, and I'll write 'em, ask me your questions and I'll answer them, send me your reviews and I'll smile like the little nut I am.**

 **Love yall ^-^**


	10. Gift

**AN/: Hey guys, this is the part I was telling you about, this "short" one answers the question of who got the game for Clockwork to give to Dani.**

 **Anyway Enjoy and Review**

 **DISCLAIMER: I do not own Danny Phantom**

* * *

 **G** **ift**

Samantha Manson or Sam as you better call her, had just finished showering for the umpteenth time that afternoon.

Hoping that the last shower would finally remove the smell of Lake eerie, she donned her garb of steel toed boots, a green and purple pleated skirt with her black top with a purple oval in the middle, you know, the usual.

She had however let her hair down, so she could dry it, she wasn't fond of the hair dryer and preferred to let it dry the natural way.

While she was towelling her hair, the flutter of a piece of paper caught her ear, turning around she found the source of the noise.

A single Purple Sticky note and it read:

' _KNOCK, KNOCK_ '

Sam couldn't help but snort.

"Really?!"

A portal opened right in front of her and she stepped in with out a single thought.

Clockwork's lair always seemed 'homey' after a while, he was a great friend and an even better Mentor to the Phantoms, but he never forgot Jazz, Sam or Tucker. Actually he would sometimes invite them to his lair if he noticed they were feeling down, or if he was bored and the Phantoms were out, the later tended to happen every so often.

"Well you always said to knock"

"Alright, I'll give you that, it was creative"

"I thought you might like that"

"So what's the deal with 'kidnapping' me? Whatcha' need?"

"I didn't 'kidnap' you, you walked willingly into the portal, which means you are my guest, kidnapping would mean you'd be held captive, but you can turn around and walk through the portal at anytime"

"Alright, so as your guest, what can I do for you?"

"Well...I wanted to ask you a favor"

"Depending on what it is sure"

"Well...", he paused for a moment, "I would hope it wouldn't be something too big, but in exchange I'd like to offer you advice"

"Oh? Advice about what?"

"Particularly someone very dear to you, while your friends do count, this one is actually of blood"

Sam's eyes widened.

"Grandma Ida"

Clockwork nodded.

"Is that allowed? I mean you telling the future and stuff?"

Clockwork rolled his eyes.

"I'm not telling you the future, I'm simply offering 'advice', one you would do best to heed"

"Uh-huh, so, this advice, nice loophole by the way, would you have still told me even if you didn't need a favor or even if I deny it?"

She asked the question friendly enough, but Clockwork could see something in her eyes, the amethyst pools held doubt and a little sadness.

"Of course"

Sam let out a breath she didn't know she was holding.

"But just not today"

"Why?"

"Well, I just saw it today, and this favor was a perfect excuse, otherwise, I would have contacted you tomorrow to make things less conspicuous, you do not want Observants on your back ranting about consequences of the future"

He air quoted the last sentence with such disdain, Sam couldn't help but laugh.

"Alright sure, but you know, to anybody else, this would be considered a threat and a maybe a bribe"

Clockwork raised a brow at that.

"How so?"

"Oh you know, the All powerful Master of Time, snatches you up and asks you a favor and tells you that in exchange you get a bit of information regarding a loved one, kinda seems like a manipulation tactic doesn't it?"

"It's not-"

He stopped for a second and mulled it over.

"My apologies, I didn't mean-"

"Yeah, I figured, you don't ask for favors often do you? Or is that always how you get things done?"

"I do things myself, if I need a favor, I ask Nocturne, he does it or asks someone else to do it for him"

"But you still owe him"

"Well yes, but I can handle what he asks"

"Huh, alright, what's this favor you wanted to ask me?"

* * *

"Really? That's it?"

"Yes"

"Like I expected something like, 'help me get rid off some Fenton weapon or someway to get rid of Dan because he screwed up or help me get a vacation spot-"

"You have quite the active imagination, and why a vacation spot?"

"Because you need one, you need to get out of the Tower"

"I'm quite content with remaining in the Citadel thank you very much"

"Uh huh, one of these days I swear I'm taking you, Nocturne and all your charges to the beach, that's a promise"

"Alright, whatever you say Samantha"

"Sam"

 _"_ SureSamantha _"_

Said girl rolled her eyes, but smiled anyway.

"So a 3DS, for Dani?"

"That's right"

"What if she gets like addicted to it?"

"It's only when she's bored and you and the others, like myself, are busy"

"But still how do you know she won't become a game junkie like Danny? I mean if you give him the chance he'll stay glued to the screen and you're gonna have to pry him with a crowbar to get him moving"

"True, but Danielle is a bit different fr-"

"I know she's not exactly like Danny, but how do you know she won't just laze around and play on it all day?"

"Because, that child is a ball of manipulation and energy, besides, if you had powers and the ability to fly, would you always stay at home?"

"Huh, didn't think of that, alright I'll get it, I can call it up and have it 5hrs, 3 if I push"

A raised brow.

"And you know I will", said Sam with a cheeky grin.

The Time Master shook his head.

"So Purple?" Asked the raven haired girl as she took out her phone and typed up a message.

"The color?"

"Yeah, there's no way I'm getting her pink"

"I guess that would be suitable"

"Hmm, you want me to put some gear stickers on it?"

Clockwork seemed amused.

"Can you?"

"Yeah, I'll make it of my own design, so you can give it to her, she'll love it"

"Thank you Samantha"

"No problem"

That said, she finished typing and hit send.

"There, all set, I should get it by 3:00, so you can pick it up then"

"Very well"

"Cool, so what's this bit of 'advice', you wanted to share?"

Clockwork face fell and his tone was clear but grim.

"My advice to you, is to go with your grandmother this Friday at her game, make sure you take her medication and a bottle of water with you, have the E.R on speed dial, there are two ways this can go"

Sam gulped, but nodded taking much heed to the advice given.

"Oh"

His tone changed drastically and a smile reached his eyes.

"Make sure she picks the card with the numbers 12 and 7"

Confused, the young Manson could only shrug.

"Um ok? Any thing else?"

"That would be all"

"Thanks Clockwork"

The Girl turned around and a portal to her room opened up, but before she could step in a purple sticky not fell in her hands.

' _No_ , _**Thank you**_ '

Sam laughed and turned to face the Time Master.

"Is this gonna be a thing?"

"Mm, yes I find it amusing"

"So now your just going to 'summon' us with sticky notes?"

"No, just you, Danielle, would have to come find her game, Tucker gets a gear piece, Jasmine a bookmark and I would just send Dan for Daniel"

"So wai-wai-wait, they get that I get a sticky note?"

"Well I didn't think you'd appreciate Dan coming to get you, and a sticky note is far less conspicuous than a gear pieces and an orange bookmark"

"True but-"

"And besides it's the only thing I can think of that your mother wouldn't detest and throw away, the gear would get tossed and while the bookmark might stay, you wouldn't like such a 'cheerful' orange, the sticky note is lavender, it's not too dark of a color and you wouldn't mind since it is a shade of purple"

"Alright, sticky notes it is, but I'm gonna get my own ones and start writing you back, we're going to make a chat"

"Sure Samantha"

"Sam"

"Whatever you say Samantha"

"Urgh, bye Clockwork"

With that she walked into the portal, smiling all the while.

* * *

Friday, 12:01am.

Sam Manson took out a pen and drew her Royal Purple sticky note pack towards her.

She wanted to try something.

 _'Hey Clockwork!'_

She waited for a second.

The sound of rustling paper cause her to look up. A lavender sticky note came floating down towards her.

 _'Yes?'_

She instantly bursts out laughing, "Oh, my god," bitting her thumb to try and stifle the sound.

 _'I didn't think you would do it'_

 _'Never doubt me when I'm bored'_

 _'Dude its the middle of the night, how are you bored?'_

 _'Can't sleep, timelines are relatively clear, bored'_

 _'Sad, did you try some warm milk? Do you need a lullaby? :)'_

 _'Must you be so cruel?'_

 _'Yes ;)'_

 _'Hey, thanks for the "advice" grandma Ida is ok, the medicine and water came in handy, we didn't need the E.R'_

 _'Good and you're welcome'_

 _'By the way, did you tell me the winning card so you could pay back the money for the game?'_

 _'Maybe'_

 _'Goddammit Clockwork'_

 _'Heh'_

They continued til around 2:00, when Sam could barely keep her eyes open.

 _'Goodnight Samantha'_

 _'Tired?'_

 _'Slightly, but Nocturne's going to kill me for keep you up this late'_

 _'I don't mind, it's a weekend tomorrow so I can sleep in'_

 _'Good to know'_

 _'So what? This_ _gonna_ _be our thing on weekends?'_

 _'If you're up for it, I don't mind, so long as it doesn't get in the way of your studies'_

 _'Heh, maybe you could help ;)'_

 _'Maybe'_

 _'Now who's being mean?'_

 _'Karma :)'_

 _'Oh, a smiley face I see, well done'_

 _'I'm learning'_

 _'XD'_

 _'Good night Samantha'_

 _'Night'_

The second she finished the sentence, she fell asleep.

* * *

Pamela Manson came into her daughter's room Saturday morning only to find her precious bundle peacefully asleep yet covered in sticky notes!

She silently crept in and picked the two of the crumpled sticky notes of the ground, they were both an acceptable shade of purple even though the lighter lavender looked much better in her eyes.

 _'Can't sleep,'_

 _'try some warm milk? a lullaby?'_

Pamela like the good mother she is, had though her dear Sammy was simply writing notes to help her sleep better.

And by the looks of it, they worked. She decided to let her dear sleep in today.

* * *

 **AN:/ Yes this was short XD well shorter than the previous two, with had like 32-35 pages.**

 **The sticky note thing was something I wanted to try for a while, I think it turned out ok, what do you guys think?**

 **Oh and the reason Sam's mom couldn't see the all of the words was because they were to squished up to decipher.**

 **Anyway you guys know the drill, send me your requests, and I'll write 'em, ask me your questions and I'll answer them, send me your reviews and I'll smile like the little nut I am.**

 **Love yall ^-^**


	11. Accident

**A** **N/: Hey guys, OK for my absence I have two, well three excuses, no accidents, no pain just excuses.**

 **First off there's something wrong with my Email or something, I no longer get notifications or reviews or anything, so I don't see them unless I look. That brings me to excuse #2.**

 **I felt kinda bad, I didn't get any reviews and no please before you say I'm selfish or self-centered, reviews are what most writers enjoy, other than the writing itself, even a single positive one can instantly brighten up someone's day and not only for the writer but other readers as well, reviews help measure the writer's skill and I felt like wow, did I mess up that bad?**

 **I saw nothing, nada, zilp, Zilch, I felt like you all were tired of me, *but wait* this isn't going to go into any depression inducing things, because I know how this sounds, this isn't a cry for attention (by the way no one with depression ever does anything as a cry for attention, I will fight you if you say that, depression fucking sucks man).**

 **Excuse #3: since I felt a bit down, I will admit, my good ol' cuz brought me a game to play, said game just happened to be 'Life is Strange' and I've been playing it from May 21st to the 25th which is the day I started writing this.**

 **Now let me explain what happened a couple hours after I finished the game, I was compelled for some reason to check the Danny Phantom archive because of the whole Phannie May thing going on and I came across my fic on the third page, the review numbers went up to 30, I was surprised, so I checked it and I almost cried, May 18th the reviews, and each of them made me smile, thank you guys so much and now I'm writing this at 10:12pm, because I haven't written anything for you guys and- I've rambled long enough.**

 **Anyway Enjoy and Review**

 **DISCLAIMER: I do not own Danny Phantom**

* * *

Accident

Jasmine "Jazz" Fenton did not freak out.

No she did not.

Not even as Five unconscious ghosts came careening onto her parents' lab floor.

The very five ghosts where covered in a light blue bubble- wait two-wait not all of them where covered?.

She didn't freak out.

The bubble broke, the first one at least, only one ghost was actually touching the floor. The others stayed slightly, like a space between the index finger and a thumb, suspended above the cool metal, in a Dark blue bubble.

She didn't.

Not even as two of those five where technically half ghosts.

Not even when the second bubble finally broke and they fell.

Not even when ectoplasm splashed her cheek from their impact.

No she did not.

And to her credit, _she really didn't._

She assessed the situation far more calmly than she should have.

Grabbing a first aid kit from, who knows where in the lab, and moved over to the youngest.

A small white haired female, dwarfed by her companions. She was Danielle "Danny with an 'i' Phantom". Jazz was relieved to find that nothing more than a few bumps and bruises were on the child and that Dani was rousing.

Moving on, from one halfa to another, Jazz checked her little brother.

Danny was no worse off than Dani, he would be fine in less than an hour, he was waking up as well.

She turned to Dan, his fiery hair still crackling, even in his unconsciousness, though he looked no worse than the other two Phantoms a large gash was present in his left arm, though it wasn't too deep, the eldest Fenton child, quickly cleaned and bandaged the wound, the large Phantom in turn opened his eyes.

It seemed like one thing triggered another, all three Phantoms groaned and sat up. Jazz payed them no mind, bruises hurt a lot but they were not fatal.

Another groan came, but it was not from the Phantoms, but from Nocturne. He had a large gash across his chest, while she wrapped it, she couldn't help think that it seemed to connect to Dan's somehow. There were a few more bruises on him but nothing much. So Jazz wasn't worried about him, what worried her was the gasp he let out, Nocturne wasn't facing her, no he was looking at something, no someone behind her.

CLOCKWORK!

It made sense, it explained the ectoplasm on her cheek, none of the others where hurt bad enough. They each regained consciousness quite quickly, Clockwork, however, was still very much unconscious, worse was the puddle of green that stained his no longer white hair. That wasn't the most alarming thing though, the puddle still grew.

It all clicked in Jazz's head, Clockwork wasn't in the second bubble, just the first and that broke quickly, they were likely attacked and from the looks of things the Temporal ghost took the brunt of the damage.

His hair had fallen out of his hood, once white now stained green, his skin an even paler blue than the first bubble, an attest to the ectoplasm loss, his tail, oh gosh his tail, it was curled up something akin to a seahorse's, with a large deep gash, pain was evident, but Clockwork did not move. As a matter of fact the only thing that moved was the puddle of green as it grew.

"Shit!"

"Oh no!"

"Clockwork!"

The cries from the Phantoms brought Jazz out of whatever stupor she was in. She snapped back into her previous mode.

"Dan, get Danny and Dani out of here", her tone was smooth, cool yet stern.

Dan held no arguments, she had that _**look**_. That look meant _**'shut up and listen or else!'**_

Ignoring the pain in his left arm, he simply picked up the two and tossed them over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes. Said two where about to comment when Jazz gave them a stern look and they clammed up with an audible 'click'.

The large Phantom took that as a sign and quickly clambered up the stairs.

"Nocturne"

The Dreamweaver blinked at the redhead.

"I need you to fill a basin with cold water for me, quickly"

He had no idea why, but he was suddenly terrified and very compelled to do what the child said.

Jazz in turn carefully maneuvered Clockwork into her lap, turning him gently on to the side to get a better look at the wound.

She deduced that it was caused by the impact of their "impromptu landing".

The only reason the others didn't suffer the same was because of the second bubble. It was likely made by Clockwork himself, so why didn't he protect himself?

Nocturne had returned with the water, he cupped some in his hands and poured it into his friend's hair to wash away the ectoplasm, as instructed by Jazz. The Fenton child wasted no time in taking an alcohol pad and dabbing the, now exposed, wounded area.

Clockwork hissed and curled, his left hand wrapped tightly around his midsection, while his right, shakily came up to meet Jazz's. Nocturne grabbed it before it could make contact.

"Shh, hey, calm down, it's just us, we're helping", the Dreamweaver started to rub small circles on Clockwork's hand, while steadying him by the shoulder.

The unconscious Time Master seemed to calm, but clung tightly to Nocturne's hand.

Jazz took the initiative to place another pad. Clockwork hissed and curl-well he tried to, Nocturne stopped him before he could really curl up, the Dream Master continued to rub and lightly squeeze his friend's hand to calm him down, and calm he did.

"Shhh, That's it, I know it hurts, but it'll help, easy"

Once the Temporal ghost seemed calm enough Jazz added the third and final pad.

Said ghost hissed but did not curl, he did, however, squeeze Nocturne's hand till his knuckles went white.

"Did you really have to put another one that fast? You could have gave him sometime to adjust"

"I could have, but he might loose more ectoplasm, and since we're currently sitting it a pool of it, not a risk I would like to take"

"Fair enough, but-"

"Here put some pressure on this", Jazz skilfully moved Nocturne's free hand over Clockwork's wound to apply the pressure.

The Time Keeper hissed, his injured tail curled up even more and he let out a pitiful but pained "Ngh".

Once again Nocturne managed to calm him down, only to fined the redhead returning, grinding something within a mortar with a pestle.

 ** _When had she left?_**

"What is that?"

"It's a paste for his tail"

The gash on Clockwork's tail was bad, it was probably the reason he couldn't change it back into legs. The way it curled obviously showed pain.

 _Would he still be able to fly?_

A non committal, "Hnn", was the only answer she received.

 _He's probably thinking the same thing._

* * *

After helping Nocturne wrap bandages around Clockwork's head, they placed the Time Master on an empty lab table near the back wall.

The two quickly began cleaning up the ectoplasm from the lab floor, the paste had yet to be completed, but Jazz needed a break, Clockwork seemed peaceful for now.

Amidst the cleaning, Nocturne's bandages somehow had slipped off.

"Hey Nocturne," Jazz called to the Dreamweaver who was just about to put up a mop.

"Yes?"

"Let me- your wound is healed?!"

Nocturne looked down.

"Oh, yes well, it was hardly a deep scratch"

"It didn't even leave a mark!"

"No, most things tend not too"

"Is it the same for him?"

"Clockwork? Yes, though his healing abilities do trump my own"

"Then why isn't he healed yet?"

"Might be the ectoplasm loss, or the energy drainage, or both it might seem"

"Energy drainage? What exactly happened to you guys?"

"It's a funny story, but I can't fully explain it, it happened too fast, you'd have to get the full story from him"

Jazz looked at the Time Keeper Nocturne was pointing at, what really happened? The Fenton child shook her head, she'll find that out afterwards, but for now she had a paste to make.

* * *

"Ngh"

Crimson eyes blearily opened...

instantly the room started spinning.

"Nghh"

"Hey, look who's finally awake!"

"Ja-jasmine?"

Clockwork's voice was rough and cracked.

"Here, I'll get you some water"

The red head eased him into a sitting position and poured him a glass of water from the jug that was on the tray beside him. Through shaky hands the Temporal ghost slowly, but surely managed to down the liquid.

"Thank you"

The girl smiled and took the empty glass.

"Not a problem"

"Where's Nocturne and the others? Are they alright?"

"They're fine, I sent the 'Phantom trio' upstairs an hour ago, I sent Nocturne up there like about 10 to fifteen minutes ago. None of them had any serious injuries. You on the other hand-"

"I'm fine"

"Yes, of course you are, especially with that concussion and your injured tail"

"I-"

"Nope, nah-uh, I sent the kids up there and I just sent Nocturne up there so I can finish this paste for you, he's helping them, so I'm helping you, I think I heard him cooking or something"

Clockwork managed a small chuckle.

"He probably was, Nocturne loves to cook for some reason, and what's this paste for? Is it finished?"

"I finished it literally as you woke up, I would say nice timing, but that might inflate your ego", the Fenton girl smirked, causing Clockwork to chuckle again.

"The paste will help with the healing and it'll minimize the chance of infection"

"Oh? Are you sure it would work on me?"

"Positive, it's made from ghost plants after all, I've been studying quite a lot of them for medicinal uses, plus it works on Dan and Danny, so it should work on you"

"Alright, but how did you get the boys to test it?"

"Dan was hurt, I told him about it, he said 'whatever, give it a shot', Danny called him crazy and Dan called him chicken, long story short they both ended up testing it"

That brought another amused chuckle from the Time Master.

"OK, so this will sting a bit, but it won't last long I promise"

Clockwork simply nodded.

Jazz then soaked her hands in a clear liquid from a bowl he never noticed before.

"Latex can disrupt the paste, it causes it to get all clumpy and the gloves kind of melt"

"The gloves melt and you want me to put that on my skin?"

"Look it won't hurt, well just for a bit but- OK, I can't use gloves, that's it, I have to use my hands, that's why I soaked them in a Disinfectant solution, it will help, I promise"

"Fine"

* * *

Jazz placed a generous dollop of the green paste in her hands and then gently rubbed it over Clockwork's wounded tail.

Said Time Master hissed in pain, gripping the edge of the lab table to keep steady, his tail twitched and jerked before stopping abruptly.

"You said it stings, it _burns_ more like"

Jazz gave him a sympathetic smile, but kept working anyway.

At the third time the tail in her hands jerked, the young Fenton was more than frustrated.

"How about we take a small break ok? "

Her voice was cool and smooth but the hidden frustration was still behind it. She stood up and washed the paste from her hands in the lab sink and towelled then dry.

"Tha-that sounds like a good idea"

The Temporal ghost exhaled and shuddered slightly, white locks hid his bowed face from view, his tight grip on the lab table lessened slightly.

Now Jazz felt bad, here she was getting frustrated, when the poor guy was obviously in pain.

"Hey, while you catch your breath, mind catching me up on what happened?"

Clockwork looked up at her.

"It was an accident, one that shouldn't have happened because the ones that caused it, where not supposed to exist"

Jazz's eyes widened.

"Danielle, had seen the forest of entercooldimensionname from one of my Time Screens, Dan of course dared Daniel to jump through"

"Did they-"

"No, they didn't, but Nocturne decided it would be a _great idea_ and the four jumped through, I followed"

"So you all ended up going in a different dimension and I got stuck in the lab doing inventory, gee thanks for taking me with you!" Jazz rolled her eyes and motioned exaggeratedly with her hands.

Clockwork in turn, gave an eye roll of his own.

"Of you were there, we would probably be in need of another Doctor, so wouldn't you say it was better that you stayed?"

"Fair enough, you know, you're oddly coherent for a being with a concussion"

"I've probably been hit harder, but I will

Chalk up my coherency to me being flightless for a while"

"What do you mean? Will that wound on your tail stop you from flying?"

"Usually no, but considering how deep it is and the fact that my head feels like it got run over, I probably won't be able to fly, it takes some form of concentration, while I can muster up enough for a conversation I doubt I can focus enough to keep airborne"

"Oh, huh I never thought of it that way, would you still not be able to even if you had your legs instead of a tail?"

"That would actually be worse, if it could happen, normally when a tail is injured you can't 'switch' unless forced to, reason being, the tail injuries would pass to legs, switching could cause paralysis and levitating a wheelchair for an eternity doesn't exactly seem fun"

"Yikes"

"Indeed"

"But-"

"How did I get hurt?"

Jazz simply nodded.

"We were ambushed"

* * *

Dani and Danny were having a small race, but play wrestling at the same time. Dan who was far too mature, floated slowly behind them, a small smile could be seen on his face, if you looked hard enough. Nocturne and Clockwork floated about an arms length away. Chatting idly about nothing.

It was peaceful and everyone seemed to enjoy it, especially when the wrestling two lost focus and fell from the air only to land in a pile of leaves and continue wrestling anyway.

Laughing until Dani screamed, managed to point at something before Dan scooped her and Danny up to dodge a massive beast.

The creature managed to scratch Dan but just barely, Nocturne moved him out of the way, the claws of the beast still descended as Dan was pulled leaving a connecting gash down the Dreamweaver's midsection.

The four moved back, dodging one only to realize they were two, Clockwork was battling one and the other was coming straight for them!

Nocturne blasted the monster away, and turned to help his friend, but the creature came charging back, Clockwork saw this and quickly formed an ectoplasmic force field around Nocturne and his charges. The beast he was fighting took advantage of Clockwork's distraction and sank it's claws into his tail.

Bitting back a scream of pain, The Time Master smacked the beast back with his staff, he let out a large temporal pulse that sent the two creatures screaming. Clockwork then quickly moved towards the others, formed another ectoplasmic field and teleported.

The last thing he remembered was that the impact hurt.

And everything went black...

* * *

"Wow, that explains why Dan and Nocturne's gashes seemed connected and why Dani and Danny weren't hurt, but it didn't explain why they were unconscious"

"Traveling through a dimension is taxing on a body, whether you teleported there or not, teleporting yourself takes a lot of energy teleporting four people even more so, and teleporting at high speed could easily cause anyone to pass out"

"Ouch, well I'm glad I didn't go, but why couldn't you see those things coming? Or stop time, wouldn't it have been easier?"

"Yes it would have, but like I said before, they were not supposed to exist, I couldn't see them, nor could I stop time, they would have still moved, considering that they live outside of time, stopping would mean that the others would have perished. Those things were supposed to be extinct"

"If they were supposed to be extinct why where they there?"

"I'm not sure, but it means I have paper work to fill out when I get home"

"Ah what is life without paperwork, hmm?"

"For me? Better", said the Time Master Bitterly.

"Oh you poor thing, now come on, break's over, let's get this paste on you"

Clockwork groaned in defeat, his head leaning on the back wall.

Jazz laughed.

* * *

After reapplying the Disinfectant solution to her hands, Jazz continued the task of applying the paste to Clockwork's tail.

The Temporal ghost hissed but did not move his tail.

"The paste is thick, so it'll take a while before it can be absorbed by your skin"

"W-would diluting it help?"

"Not you, the paste should be thick"

"F-fine"

Clockwork could swear that the existence of the paste was to put him through misery, it _burned_.

 _ **It burned bad**_ _ **.**_

Taking deep breaths he did not need, the Temporal ghost willed himself to stay still, after a couple of gruelling minutes, his tail finally went numb.

A sudden realization hit him, in the pain he had somehow managed to block out his senses, sight of course, he kept but smell? The paste was a good example.

It smelt of Petrichor and a dash of mint. Jasmine's hands were coated with the Disinfectant solution, it acted like a gel barrier, her warm skin was cool on his.

It was strange, yet it was a familiar feeling.

He ignored it, opting to rest his head against the back wall with a small exhale, the paste wasn't even closed to being absorbed into his pale blue skin, the thick green was very much present, Jasmine continued, utterly immerse in her work.

Closing his eyes, the Time Master simply waited for her to finish, even as the slight familiar feeling grew.

* * *

He knew his tail was _sensitive_ , but not _**this sensitive**_.

It wasn't until a small sound slipped from the back of his throat, that he realized what the "familiar" feeling was.

The scent really wasn't helping either, Petrichor was one of his favourite smells, so was mint, and most of his body had gone lax already.

In mere minutes from pain to pleasure.

 **Well shit.**

 _"Mngh"_

Crimson eyes widened, as a Purple blush appeared across his face. Oh ancients this was bad. Well not bad per say, it felt nice-a little _ **too nice**_.

He was for once glad his legs wouldn't form, to the zone and back that would be embarrassing.

 _"Mnh"_

 _ **Oh jeez, Clockwork get a hold of yourself.**_

He wasn't loud by any means, but Jasmine would eventually hear. Like his legs he was glad he couldn't form much-ehem "coherent" thoughts. Thank god for concussions.

His tail was even more sensitive than usual and the girl kept her cool hands in the most tantalizing of movements, though he was glad he could focus only on the _feeling_ , he really didn't want to.

 _"Mngh"_

Like hell if he could tell her to stop though, his mind really wasn't functioning as well as it should have, it was only the _feeling_ , he probably lost the ability to speak already.

With only the hyper focus on the feeling of the hands on his tail, it was a wonder how long he could keep quiet.

Apparently not long .

 _"Mnnh"_

She did something with her index finger at the back of the tail, Clockwork's lower half jerked forward.

"You ok?"

Jazz was worried, the Time ghost had his face turned away from her, he was hidden under his hair but you could see him bitting his lip, his hands clenched the table tightly and if you looked closer you could see his body shake.

"I'll be gentle ok"

A small nod.

His body was shaking and he couldn't stop, the end of his tail kept curling and uncurling, like one would toes, it would only be a matter of time till he got all hot an bothered and he could already feel the heat rising.

* * *

Jazz to her credit was gentle and when Clockwork jerked forward in what she assumed was pain, I mean why else would his back arch that way? She became even more gentle, feather light touches to avoid further hurting her patient.

 _ **She was trying to kill him!**_

Honestly at this rate he'd bite through his lip. Cool feather light touches the whole way, his already sensitive tail just became even more so. If she did that thing with her index finger he would probably loose it.

Of course at that instant the Fenton girl did just that. Gently holding on to the curling tip with one hand, she curled her hand with it allowing her to touch the soft underside with her index finger, while using her other hand to apply the paste and gently massage the area.

 _"Mnngh"_

The moan wasn't loud enough for someone upstairs to hear it but Jasmine should have. But she didn't, far too fascinated with the tail that curled around and through the fingers of her hand.

From burning pain to a massage to almost full blown arousal, what in the zone's name was wrong with him? It wasn't like it was mate- Mating season was getting close, that would explain it and the concussion wasn't helping either.

Jazz gently rubbed the underside of the tail between her index finger and her thumb, admiring it's softness and smooth texture, completely oblivious to the "distress" she was causing the Time Master.

" _Mng_ *pant* Jaz- _Mnn_ "

His body was warm and getting warmer, there was already a tight coil in his stomach and the pressure grew every time she-

 _"Mngh"_

He couldn't even finish the sentences in his head, _great_.

The coil tightened further. _**Dammit**_.

"Jas- _Mnn_ "

Shit, he needed her to stop, she was hardly doing anything really, nothing more than holding and massaging, with the gentleness a masseuse would be jealous of, that would be fine, except it was where she was massaging, the underside of his tail was always even more sensitive than the rest.

He was already starting to pant and sweat, not good.

"Jasm- _Mnng_ *pant* Jas- _Mnnh_ *pant* _Mngh_ **S-stop** *pant* **stop it** "

As a last ditch effort, Clockwork jerked away his tail, panting even more from the effort.

"Oh, shoot! I'm sorry, I got carried away! Did I hurt you?"

 _ **God bless this child.**_

"N-no, just sensitive"

Clockwork's body was shaking visibly now, his tail kept twitching and curling, his face was still hidden by his hair, but it was plastered with sweat.

"I figured that the first time, the underside had a slightly lighter shade than the rest, I avoided it for the most part because I was afraid I would hurt you and then I go and get carried away, I'm sorry, I've never touched a ghost's tail before"

"I-it's fine you didn't do anything wrong-"

"But i-"

"Can you call Nocturne?"

"Call me for what?"

"Nocturne! I didn't see you come in!"

"I doubt you would considering you were talking to Clockwork over here"

* * *

Clockwork sat on the table trying to catch the breath he did not need, his body was still over sensitive and it hadn't stopped shaking. Granted everything just happened a minute ago, he expected to at least stop shaking by now.

Nocturne and Jasmine were talking about something before the girl turned around smiled and went up stairs.

Nocturne came towards him.

"The kid's going on lunch break, which means she went to put the Phantoms to bed and that we can go home"

"G-good"

"You're shaking, you alright? You're not hurt are you?"

"No-"

"Then I can tease you-"

"Please don't"

"No, no, did you forget how sensitive your tail is? Completely your fault, You must have been a blushing mess"

"I managed"

"Oh really? I doubt that, move your hair, you look like a sweaty hippie with the bandages on your head"

While Clockwork fixed his hair, Nocturne moved to the bowl with the Disinfectant solution.

"What are you doing?"

"What does it look like?"

"Do you even know what that is?"

"It the Disinfectant solution, the kid sprinkled some on our bandages to avoid infection, stings like hell, but it helps"

"Uh-huh, then what are you-hey _Mnh_ "

"Doctor's orders, she said she couldn't get the underside of your tail without you twitching, so that's my job now"

 _"Mngh"_

"Look at you, your as purple as your cloak!"

Clockwork didn't answer, instead he buried his head in the crook of Nocturne's neck, he still technically remained seated on the lab table.

The Dreamweaver wasn't even phased, he simply continued his ministrations.

 _"Mnnh"_

The moan was only slightly muffled from Nocturne's neck.

"You're really that sensitive, I mean look at your tail, do you even realize what you're doing right now?"

Clockwork's tail was wrapped around Nocturne's hand and fingers, curling and uncurling like a blue snake. The Time Master himself either didn't know what he was doing or couldn't control it. Seemed like both. His head remained in the crook of Nocturne's neck, but not all his moans could be muffled.

"Sta*pant* _Mngh_ *pant* home- _Mnh_ "

"Alright, alright, I'll get you home", the Dreamweaver picked up his friend bridal style.

" _Ngh_ "

"Oh come on, it's not that bad"

No response.

"Oh? Not gonna answer me are you? I wonder what happens if I do this?"

He wrapped his hand around the ever curling end of Clockwork's tail, he squeezed lightly, he then moved his index finger to curl onto the underside of the tail, like one would do to a lock of hair, he pulled out of the curl slowly and deliberately tracing the underside.

The response was in an instant.

 _"Mnnh!"_

Clockwork's back arched as he moaned, the coil in his stomach almost released then and there, ** _almost,_** panting and shaking his tail re-wrapped around Nocturne's hands as if begging for the release.

Nocturne had to quickly adjust his friend be before he fell, he was shaking and twitching, the moan was _loud_ , he'd admit, maybe he went to far, though no one upstairs heard them, but being denied your release was hell. Hence the shaking/twitching body that was in his arms, Clockwork looked more like a Naga than a ghost at the moment.

"Jeez you got it bad, alright let me take you home before you jump me on a lab floor", he paused for a second, "or mess up my clothes".

"I'm not 'jumping' anyone, I have some decency and it's your fault"

The Time Master was still shaking but his voice did not, though it was slightly muffled from his new location on the Dreamweaver's chest.

"And to think all this because of an accident"

"Who's idea was it to go to the dimension in the first place?"

"Keep that up and I'll pull"

Nocturne gestured to the underside of the tail that was wrapped around his hand he rubbed the curled end between his fingers.

" _Mngh_ , Y-you pull, it's your laundry bill"

"Fair enough"

With that they teleported into the Citadel.

* * *

 **Bonus:** I read the rules and stuff and this is still technically rated T so yeah, there ya go, and because we know Nocturne is mean enough to pull ;)

"Y-you know we still have to write report about those things still being in existence"

"Mhm"

Nocturne hadn't stopped playing with the curled end, nor did he put Clockwork down when they got inside. He was basically walking around with him in his hands, he found it amusing and Clockwork could careless at this point.

"W-what's that supposed to mean?"

"That I have a better idea"

"L-ike what?"

"You ok?"

"F-fine"

"Your stuttering"

"I'm f-fine"

Nocturne was still very much playing with the end of the tail.

"You sure?"

"Pos-sitve"

"Alright, so you wanna do paperwork and I don't-"

"Y-you said you *pant* you had another idea"

"Yep"

"W-which w*pant* was?"

"Oh you know-"

He pulled and curled his hand from the tail the same way he did at the Fenton Lab. Clockwork's back arched and his eyes rolled back.

 _ **"Mnngh!"**_

/~

"So feeling better now?"

Crimson eyes blinked open to see Nocturne burning a couple of paper towels to nonexistence with ectoplasmic energy.

"I swear, I'm done with you sometimes"

"No you're not, I'm very lovable, besides, you wanted to do paperwork I had-"

"Better ideas, yeah, what where they?"

"Cold shower and a nap?"

"Sure"

* * *

 **AN:/ Alrighty, that's that, now this one I had fun with, it includes a couple of interesting tidbits some of you know or may not know.**

 **Fun facts!**

 **Petrichor- the after rain smell, yes it has a name, your welcome :)**

 **There are some leaf oils that can cover wounded muscle and numb pain until it can be felt, but there's a catch the body needs to replace pain with something, and the only real feeling your body can feel other than temperature is Pain or Pleasure.**

 **This is also the reason why some plant based pain killers have a slight Aphrodisiac tendency.**

 **Naga- half human/half snake.**

 **Tail kink for the win!**

 **OK so this idea was based off the "Momma bear Jazz" request from Poly And a certain someone said that they ship Nocturne and Clocky ;)**

 **I remember getting shocked by an electric outlet or something as a kid and whenever I touch something cold and smooth or if I go out side after it rains, my finger tips become super sensitive. So I based Clockwork's tail on that.**

 **By the way I really liked the fun fact from "Nobody" about Nocturne's nickname, I learned something new.**

 **Anyway you guys know the drill, send me your requests, and I'll write 'em, ask me your questions and I'll answer them, send me your reviews and I'll smile like the little nut I am.**

 **Love yall ^-^**


	12. The Beach

**A** **N/: Hey guys, this is the long awaited beach trip, it's a bit of a continuation of the last one ;)**

 **Anyway Enjoy and Review**

 **DISCLAIMER: I do not own Danny Phantom**

* * *

 **The Beach**

"Really?"

"Yes"

"The beach?"

"Yes"

"No"

"Come on! You need a break from work and er _other things_ , speaking of, the stains from two days ago didn't wash out"

The Time Master turned purple.

"Nocturne!"

"Well it's true!" The Dreamweaver smirked, loving the Temporal ghost's reaction. "You made a hell of a mess, but I'll admit it was impressive, three whole paper towels worth, it's been awhile huh?"

It didn't seem like it was possible but somehow the Time Master became even more purple.

"W-would you let that go already? "

"Nope, besides the kid's 'little outing' went downhill and I wanted to make it up to them-"

"Danielle convinced you didn't she?"

Nocturne sighed "Yes, honestly that child has impressive skills with her eyes, she's mastered the water works and the lip quiver too"

"Oh no, not the lip quiver", deadpanned the Time ghost.

Nocturne laughed.

"You know every time you say something sarcastic in monotone, it just makes it even more funny"

"Yes, yes I could be a comedian", Clockwork rolled his eyes.

"Nah, I don't see it"

"..."

"What?"

"Remember that one time in Etriè"

"Pfft, oh my Ancients", wiping a tear from his eyes the Dreamweaver smiled, "I take it back, you could be a comedian"

"As interesting as that would be, no thank you"

Nocturne rolled his eyes.

"You're no fun-"

"Yes because I haven't heard that one before-"

"Well it would be fun to go to the beach"

"No"

"What do you have against the beach anyway?"

"Oh nothing, except that you want to take the children to a beach outside their dimension"

"Fine we can take them to one in one of the realms here"

"That's worse! Didn't you say all of them wanted to go?"

"Yes?"

"Three of them are human, not going to happen"

"That's why I said _that beach_ would have been better-"

"Fine you can take them, I'll stay here"

"No, you're coming with us-"

"Not a chance"

Nocturne grew fed up with his friend's stubbornness.

"Give me one good reason why"

Clockwork sighed.

"Sand in my Case isn't fun-"

"Then I'll help you clean it", the Dreamweaver said matter of factly.

The Temporal ghost rolled his eyes.

"No, it's just as-"

"Sensitive as your tail, I know," Nocturne had somehow appeared behind him, the cool breath whispered in his ears and two arms circled around his waist caused a shiver down his spine. _"I wouldn't mind helping, I'll be gentle"_

His body was very much sensitive, if two days ago wasn't an attest to that, Mating season started in only a couple of days. Of course heat and sensitivity came on to play early.

He wasn't the only ghost, he knew that well, majority of the Council members where fidgety and irritable, _fucking hormones._

Nocturne's body was as sensitive as Clockwork's, he just simply enjoyed watching the Time Master squirm. He was good at hiding his "sweet spots" but Clockwork knew them well.

Said Ghost easily disengaged from Nocturne's hold, The Dreamweaver, however, was stubborn.

" _Come on!"_

"Your resorting to whining? Your even worse than the children"

"You know you want to go"

"Hardly"

Nocturne had already found his way back, latching on the Time Master just as before, but this time he buried his head in the crook of the other's neck, fangs gently grazing skin, _"what's a little fun at the beach?"_

The Temporal ghost blushed.

"Fine"

"Good", with that the Dreamweaver nipped his neck.

Clockwork pulled back.

"What's with you and biting me neck?"

"Nothing", it was said with a nuzzle and another nip, "just trying to find it"

"Find what?"

"Hmn~"

With such a knowing smile that Clockwork gave him a questioning glance.

Nocturne ignored him and continued.

Clockwork rolled his eyes.

"You get carried away and we can't go to the beach"

The other ghost disappeared in a portal with in an instant, a shout of "we're going to the beach!" Was left in his wake.

The Time Master rolled his eyes again, honestly it was becoming a habit. He headed to his quarters to get ready. A sudden feeling on his neck made him grumble as he put his hand to it.

The freaking bastard gave him a hickey.

* * *

Iakahak Cove had a wonderful beach, nice palms to hang hammocks, flat sand to place towels and umbrellas and it was an overall quiet dimension, keyword, _was_.

Speakers where blaring, courtesy of both Sam and Tucker. A splash fight was going on between the three phantoms and surprisingly Jazz was in there too.

Tucker was videoing the war while Sam cheered from the shore, not quite ready to soak as yet.

Clockwork was reading under the shade of an umbrella near the ice cooler, while Nocturne was sunbathing.

It looked more like a beach picnic than a simple trip to the beach, but no one cared, they were all content, on the beach in various beach wear, doing what ever the hell they wanted, snacks, ice cold sodas and good music, who would complain?

Speaking of various swim wear, let's list off what each was sporting.

Both Clockwork and Nocturne had their hair loosed and were shirtless, as a matter of fact all the males where shirtless but their muscle sizes varied.

An indignant shout of "my guns will get bigger, you'll see!" From Tucker had everyone laughing, but back to businesses.

While the males where shirtless they each had their own color of swim shorts.

Clockwork's one was of course purple, but with a black line down the side, Nocturne's one was the opposite of Clockwork's, his one was black with a purple line down the sides.

Danny's was blue with a neon green waist and ends, Tucker's one was similar except that his was orange with a yellow waist and ends, plus he had two extra pockets in the front "to hold his babies".

Dan's shorts had a black waist, but the pants itself looked well... it looked like someone took red and green paint and just splashed it across the pants. Honestly it didn't look bad, the design actually looked like paint splashes, it just made it hard to say if it was green with red or red with green. Sam and Dan had gone shopping for the occasion and that was the only shorts he would try on.

As for the Three girls, each had their swimsuits, Sam and Dani had one a one-piece while Jazz wore a bikini, along with a beach skirt of course.

Dani's swimsuit was black with her DP logo on the right side of her breast. Sam had gotten it for her. Speaking of Sam, she was also wearing a black swimsuit but with a purple monarch butterfly on her left breast, it had a purple stripe down the sides.

Jazz as mentioned was the only one wearing a bikini, it was a light blue, matching with that of her headband and a swim skirt draped her lower half down to her toes, splitting on the left, it matched her hair. She kept it on even in the water.

* * *

"Hey Clockwork can you pass me a soda?"

The Time Master in question didn't even look up from his book, he simply opened the cooler with one hand and tossed the soda in Danny's general direction.

"Thanks!"

"One for me too please!"

He stuck his hand back in and tossed a can to Dani.

"Thank you!"

With that Clockwork continued his reading.

Sam had joined Nocturne in sunbathing. She lay on a purple and black towel, while the Dreamweaver lay on a black and purple towel. The towel Clockwork was laying on, a couple feet over them, was just purple.

The umbrella he was under was also purple, Dan had made a comment about "letting the poor guy enjoy his purple, but if he turns into a grape I'll be the first to laugh".

There were only two Phantoms in the water and they were currently drinking soda, Dan was playing football with Tucker, and Jazz came to shore to wring the water out of her hair.

* * *

"Go long dude!"

"Yeah, yeah I got it!"

And " _got it"_ he did, unfortunately the ball went in the Clockwork's direction, when Dan jump to catch the ball, the impact of his feet to the ground caused a small wave of sand splash onto Clockwork.

Said ghost's eyes glowed and he let out fierce growl.

"Shit sorry?!" Dan gulped, the aura coming off Clockwork caused him to shiver a bit, even in the heat.

The Time Master sighed and waved him off, instantly calming, "it's fine, it was an accident".

Just then Nocturne came up, "you guys ok?"

"Uh, yeah, may have tried to bury Clockwork though"

"That would explain the sand, come on Clock, let's get you in the water"

Reaching out his had Nocturne easily lifted the Time Master to his feet.

"Look it's fine, it'll brush off-"

"Nope, in the water!"

Within a blink Clockwork found himself thrown over a shoulder and hauled off into the water.

 **SPLASH!**

"There you go Samantha, I got him into the water, now you have to do the- what was it again?"

"The chicken fight" supplied the little Phantom beside him.

"Now you have to do the chicken fight with Jasmine"

"Oh chicken fight I'm in, I wanna see that!" Exclaimed Dan as he ran and cannon balled into the water.

"This is the last time I bet on you Clockwork, I feel utterly betrayed!" Sam called from the shore as she made her way into the water.

Clockwork, who had just resurfaced, gave the incoming goth a blank look, which really was funny because most of his hair was plastered to his face, but he humoured the others anyway.

 _"My bad, I'm sorry I got lifted up against my will and dumped in the ocean"_

The monotone made all the more laughable.

* * *

"Get ready!" Called the referee.

"Jazz and Dan vs Sam and Danny, who will win? It's anyone's guess, but I'll have the results right here on film folks, I got you!"

"Cut the commentary Tucker, I'm trying to be the referee here!"

"Well excuse me, but I don't see you filming, so share the limelight Dani, besides every great game needs both a referee and a commentator"

"True, alright, give your commentary, oh esteemed Commentator"

"You got it, all right ladies and gentlemen, and our good ghouls, let's move to our referee to hear the rules!"

"You just wanted that to rhyme didn't you?" Piped Nocturne, who was now swimming beside Clockwork.

The Techno geek turned commentator just shrugged.

"Alright", shouted the tiny referee, "I want a clean fight, no biting, punching, scratching or hair pulling, also no kicking the guys to win, and boys", she looked to her elder Phantoms, "if your partner goes down, your job is to lift her our of the water bridal style, your job then is to make sure she's not hurt and that there's no second attack, so ready?"

Sam climbed on top of Danny's shoulders, Jazz climbed on Dan's

"Ready!" They all shouted.

 **"Fight!"**

* * *

While the children were busy playing, Nocturne used the distraction, to throw one arm around Clockwork, it would seem to anyone else to be in a brotherly like manner, but Clockwork was not fooled.

"What?"

"Nothing"

Not even three seconds later Nocturne was nipping at his neck.

"Honestly, did you turn Vampire overnight?

"Maybe~"

Clockwork rolled his eyes for the umpteenth time.

Because of the depth of the water, no one noticed Nocturne's other arm that was wrapped securely around the Time Master's waist.

"I'm beginning to think that the entire reason you wanted me at the beach was to touch me"

"Hey, my first question to you was what's a little fun at the beach, the kids are having fun why can't we?"

The sentence was punctuated with a gently graze of fangs and a small nip.

The Temporal ghost could swear he heard Nocturne mutter something about "still not finding it".

"That's because it's a different type of _fun_ "

"Come on, at least let _me_ have some _fun_ , would you, honestly it's _not fair"_

"Uh-huh, unfair, I'm literally giving you no protest to practically become a leech on my neck-"

"Yes and I love you for it, but it's not fair"

"It's not my fault that your all hot and bothered"

"No, but it's almost everyone else in the zone"

"Oh?"

"Was doing my rounds in the Zone yesterday, and I swear there's not a single ghost who didn't have a perverted dream, _not one_!"

The Dreamweaver whined and pulled Clockwork closer to him, the Temporal ghost could feel his frustration, he smirked.

"Is that why you're attempting to suck my soul out through my neck?"

He received no answer, instead he was pulled flush onto the Dreamweaver's chest, his _need_ was evident.

The Time Master smirked and turned slightly sideways, wrapping his arm around the Dreamweaver's waist, in turn said being released his.

Their positions where now switched and of course Nocturne, who was nuzzling and nipping at his friend's neck, only continued, relishing the feel as the lower arm moved slightly downwards and fingers trailed slowly down his thigh, slightly _brushing_ but Clockwork moved his hand before it reached its goal.

" _Ngh_ , you're a terrible friend for teasing me"

"Hmm, yes well", The Time ghost was still smirking, " I'll be heading to my book now, why don't you wait in the water till your other terrible friend leaves?"

Nocturne's face colored.

"Yeah well, you'll be back after chapter 12!"

Clockwork only laughed as he moved to shore.

* * *

The children had finished their match ending with surprise, Jazz as the victor, Sam one the third round, but that didn't really count.

All of them were now on the beach, including Nocturne, snacking on food and soaking up ray-shade, they were soaking up the shade, they remained quite content underneath the multiple large umbrellas.

At one point Sam, who was sitting on the blue cooler, noticed that Clockwork had fallen asleep, one arm covering his face while he lay on his back, with the book on his lower lap. _ **"Salt and breeze must've knocked him out"**_ , she thought as she gestured to Nocturne with a light kick to the shin and a tilt of her head.

Clockwork in reality wasn't asleep, _chapter fucking 12,_ he had his arm over his face to calm himself and to cover his blush, the book, well you know what that was covering.

Nocturne looked down at the Time Master and smirked.

"You know, I can easily pick you up at toss you into the water"

Clockwork moved his arm slightly to glare at him.

"You know, to cool of, since you seem to be sweating and all"

Indeed Clockwork was sweating, but for a different reason, Nocturne knew exactly which one.

"Yeah, it's really hot for some reason"

"I'm entitled to agree with Danielle on this one", said Clockwork as he sat up, with his legs in the jutax position, the book was very much in his lap.

"The only reason I decided to do this beach thing was because the three musketeers over there were", she gestured at the Phantoms behind her with a thumb, 'were melting' and," she turned to Clockwork, "I promised you a beach day and Sam keeps her promises"

The Temporal ghost chuckled.

"Fair enough, but for my troubles, I am keeping this umbrella though"

Sam laughed.

"Sure thing Clockwork"

"So how did you plan this?"

"Well those three were melting so I said beach, they agreed, I remembered my promise, so I convinced Dani, to convince Nocturne to convince you and the others just came for the food"

"That's quite a chain and really Jasmine, you came for the food as well?"

The red head blushed.

"Sam's mom makes really good sandwiches ok?!"

They laughed as the red head got redder.

* * *

"What's his problem squirt?"

"No clue Dan, I think he's just enjoying the breeze"

At some point after the conversation and the passing of sandwiches, Clockwork silently slipped off to sit in front of the shore.

"Dani's right, it is hot"

"I didn't ask you kid, but if he's hot why doesn't he jump in the freaking water?"

Danny shrugged.

"How 'bout I go find out, hmm?"

With that Nocturne moved towards the Time Master.

"Hey"

"Hey, yourself"

" How was Chapter 12?"

"I hate you so much"

The Dreamweaver laughed as he sat down beside Clockwork.

"You know you love me"

"Eh, sometimes"

"Oh?"

Nocturne moved closer, their long hair covered much of their faces, to the others watching it looked like he was telling Clockwork a secret, of course Nocturne wasn't that innocent.

He went straight for the pale blue neck.

"Love me now?"

 _"Mnn"_

The moan wasn't loud by any means, but it was enough to get the Time ghost to blush.

"Found it!" Smirked the Dreamweaver.

"H-how did you-"

"There's a little spot on your neck that makes you melt, apparently I was trying to find it when I was high, and finally found it now".

"I swear I hate you sometimes"

The spot was nipped a bit harder.

 _"Mnh"_

The nips went a trail all the way up to the underside of the chin, right back down to the "spot ".

 _"Mn-"_

 **SPLASH!**

The Temporal ghost had somehow managed to push Nocturne into the water and turn heel back towards his towel.

Nocturne resurfaced laughing. He walked back to the others as well.

"So what's his problem?"

The Dream ghost Shrugged nonchalantly.

"He's just grumpy because it's not June yet"

"What's that have to do with anything?" Quarried Dani.

"It's Mating season"

The Masters' eyes widened, _**shit**_ , they forgot about Dan.

"It's what?!" Came the indignant shout from the others.

"Mating season", clarified Clockwork, "It starts in June, but since it's close most ghosts tend to get irritable"

"That would explain the heat, wow, I completely forgot about it-"

"It would have hit you like a train wreck regardless", supplied Nocturne.

"Why?"

This was the first time Dani was hearing about this, at first she thought it was just hot, but now she finds out that it's because of mating season? It's a lot for a kid to take in.

Clockwork sighed.

"Because it causes heat and sensitivity and overall irritability-"

"So basically you guys start PMSing-oof! "

Tucker's sentence was cut by an elbow to the gut, courtesy of Jazz.

Everyone rolled their eyes.

"So what happens to us?"

Danny looked sheepish.

"Well you can ignore it, if you can handle the heat, but after the first month it's really easy-"

Nocturne was cut off by Dani.

"Hold up, how long does it last?"

"From June to August", came Clockwork's gruff reply.

"Technically, it's really a couple weeks in June, sometimes in July, but yeah", Nocturne air quoted, "August".

"Wow, that sucks, why so long?"

The question came from the goth.

"Because a ghost child takes minimum three months to form, and within three months after formation they're practically toddlers, by that time it's Christmas, the truce won't allow them to be harmed"

"Huh, that's actually pretty clever, the children are kept safe until they can defend themselves, cool"

"Uh no, not cool for us Sam, I'm thirteen! Why is it happening to me? Shouldn't it start at like 20 or something?"

"It's starts because you are thirteen, Danielle, females tend to mature faster than males, they start at sixteen"

"Oh that sucks, Clockwork please tell me you're kidding"

"I wish Daniel"

"Ok, so how do they ignore it? They just have to get through one month right? Or do we have to expect anyone of them to jump a ghost they fight?-oof!"

Once again Tucker was elbowed, this time courtesy of Dani.

"Just er, keep cool? Your gonna be grumpy as hell but you should be fine in July"

"Real help that is Nocturne, how the hell are we supposed to keep cool in freaking summer?"

The Phantom growled.

"It was just a suggestion Dan"

Nocturne growled back.

"I have an indoor pool you guys can borrow"

"Sam I love you right now"

"Aw, look at that, a confession"

"Shut up Tucker!"

Both the Fenton boy and the Manson girl were blushing.

"Well now that that's settled, why don't we head back into the water?"

"You know, you guys can come too"

"No thanks Samantha, I usually focus on work, so it doesn't bother me"

"And _I_ have to make sure _he_ doesn't over work himself", gestured Nocturne with a thumb, "apparently that's apart of my job now"

Clockwork rolled his eyes.

"Fine, fine we're going I'm the water"

"Yes!"

The others laughed at the Masters'.

"Count me in then"

"Oh, the red head's in, I'm jumping!"

"Why the hell not? Hey squirt, wait for me!"

"Woohoo!, come on you love birds move it!"

"We're not lovebirds!"

They ran in holding hands anyway.

 **SPLASH!**

* * *

 **Bonus:** because in the first sentence girls understand where Clockwork is coming from. ;)

"Honestly, how does sand get into these places?"

After the "Beach day" everything was packed up and everyone was returned to their respective homes, with the exception of Dan and Nocturne. Dan stayed with the Fentons, while Nocturne was taking a shower in one of Clockwork's guest showers.

The Time Master himself was sitting on his bed, half dressed, with a container of water at his side, a cloth in his hand attempting to clean the bits of sand from his case.

He really didn't want too, his case was extremely sensitive, especially on the inside, and with mating season literally only days away, it was even more so. And the sand would only make him irritable when it itched.

"This is the exact reason I didn't want to go to the beach in the first place"

"Didn't I say I would help?"

Two arms wrapped around his waist, and cloth was slowly removed from his hands as fangs grazed gently down his neck... and then it was nipped.

"What is with you and my neck?"

The Dreamweaver shrugged.

"Don't know, I just like it"

"Someone give me the patience"

Nocturne just laughed.

"G-gentle!"

"Sorry, but jeez there's a lot of sand, couldn't you just wash it out with the shower head?"

"T-to sen-sitive"

"Ah, I'll go slow ok?"

A small nod was all he received from the Time Master under him.

Yes under, Nocturne ended up straddling Clockwork to keep him from moving too much, so now the Time ghost was flush under him panting, with his white hair spread across either side of his head, you really couldn't blame Nocturne for his ehem _growing_ arousal, Clockwork looked _ **hot.**_

But no, the Dreamweaver was a good friend and worked diligently to remove the sand like he said he would, wiping away gently the grains of sand that found their way on the top and upper side of the case.

He was just getting through with the upper left hand corner when Clockwork shifted his hips, really it was more like a thrust but Nocturne ignored it.

 _"Mnh"_

"Too much pressure?"

The Time Master had his eyes closed, biting his lip, he nodded shakily.

" Sorry I'll be more gentle"

 **THRUST!**

 _"Mnhg"_

That was only the upper right hand corner.

In hindsight straddling and being straddled, was probably not the best idea, especially given how sensitive they were.

Each movement brought small shocks up their spine which in turn tightened a coil and for every time the coil tightened friction felt more and more appealing.

He had just finished the top section including both top corners, the sides bottom and the clock and pendulum were left _ **. Oh boy.**_

Nocturne could swear that Clockwork was trying to drive him crazy, just the look of panting Time Master beneath him was enough to tighten the coil, but the fact that he kept thrusting up and making those sounds, Ancients if this continued he was going to lose it.

He was going to lose it, just as he finished the sides and placed his hand on the face of the clock, the Temporal ghost thrusted up _right there_ and they both let out a moan. The _friction_.

Nocturne had to place his head on the other's shoulders to stop himself from shaking, it didn't work much.

"Cl-clock, h-hey, you gotta stop m-moving like that ok? Otherwise your case will end up even more dirty"

"S-sor-ry"

Nocturne nodded and slowly sat up, bad move, the pressure caused Clockwork to move, the want for friction was becoming a need.

 _"Mngh"_

"D-dammit Clockwork, w-what did I just say?!"

"Y-your *pant* fault"

"Y-yeah, l-let's continue sh-all we?"

After about a few minor jerks here and there, the clock face was finally clean, Clockwork on the other hand was sweating hard, his er _need_ was even more so.

Nocturne wasn't fairing much better, every little twitch, every little jerk, he felt, if Clockwork were to "finish" he would probably follow.

The bottom corners were clean all that was left was to clean the Pendulum and the bottom of the case where the sand would fall, seemed simple enough right? Wrong, the Pendulum as Nocturne found out was extremely sensitive, it also had the most sand.

 **THRUST!**

" _Mnnh_ *pant* d-don't, *pant* s-stop"

"T-there's a lot of s-sand here clock, I have to"

"G-gentle *pant* please"

The gentleness didn't matter, Nocturne had finished the front of the Pendulum, but when Clockwork jerked, his fingers managed to graze then underside, causing the Time ghost to inhale sharply and Nocturne to realize that he probably wasn't going home tonight.

"I can't *pant* d-don't"

"Most of the sand is there"

The Dreamweaver had managed to keep his voice straight but his body was shaking. Carefully dipping the cloth into the container, he wrung it and continued.

The coil was too tight, his body was too hot, he just wanted release, he couldn't stop panting, nor could he stop shaking,

it was the tail thing all over again, Nocturne was being gentle, but with how sensitive his body was right now, it hardly mattered.

Nocturne had barely finished half of the underside, when his back arched and he thrusted forward.

" _ **Mnng**_ ", they both moaned.

It seemed like Nocturne couldn't take it anymore as he thrusted back, Clockwork thought he would lose it right there, but the coil only tightened.

"Y-you, ok?"

"Y-yeah *pant* y-you? "

"A-almost d-done, t-try not to m-move, will you?"

Of course he _moved_.

Nocturne had managed to finish, the underside of the Pendulum right when Clockwork's back arched and eyes rolled back, the last thrust had him following.

Only few grains of sand remained at the bottom of the case and they were whipped away quickly, however Clockwork's body was still over sensitive, causing him to moan and thrust up, causing Nocturne to thrust back.

They both lay there sticky, sweaty but sated and on plus _ **the case was clean**_.

"Dammit, now I need another shower"

"And another laundry bill"

"Oh hush you, let's take a shower so I can go to bed, next time we go to the beach, we do this, with our clothes off!"

"Next time? What makes you think there will be a next time?"

"That hickey, that hickey says next time"

"Hick-"

The last thing he remembered was Nocturne thrusting back and his face was buried in his neck-

"You bastard"

"You love me"

"Oh shut up and go take a shower"

"With you~"

"No down the hall"

With that the bathroom door in Clockwork's room was shut in his face.

"Rude!"

"Love you "

The Dreamweaver rolled his eyes but smiled anyway.

* * *

 **AN:/ And that's that, beach day ever body!**

 **The book Clockwork was reading was the same one Nocturne had read during the babysitting chapter.**

 **Just so you know, I do love every ship in the DP Fandom, like seriously, you'll never get a complain from me, except if you ship 12/13 year old Dani with someone far older than her, like her and Youngblood sure, they're kids, but like her as a kid with an adult, nope nuh-uh, change her age to 16/18 and I'll join you but don't ship a child with an adult, well don't ask me to ship a child with an adult.**

 **I'll write up the requests, even for ships, but I'll warn you I've never personally been in a relationship so I have no true idea of how romance works.**

 **I write Clockwork and Nocturne as friends with benefits, there close because they've known each other for eons, there's a blur between the lines for them XD**

 **I actually base them on two of my best friends who are like that, they're "single together". We've known each other since kindergarten and all the way up to college, we tend to crash at each others apartment for hell of it. But really they behave like that, honestly.**

 **Anyway you guys know the drill, send me your requests, and I'll write 'em, ask me your questions and I'll answer them, send me your reviews and I'll smile like the little nut I am.**

 **Love yall ^-^**


	13. Migraine

**A** **N/: Hey guys, this isn't anything fancy, I just have a killer Migraine, chemistry kills. So I'm gonna take a nap after this, _my head hurts that bad_ :(**

 **Anyway Enjoy and Review**

 **DISCLAIMER: I do not own Danny Phantom**

* * *

 **Migraine**

They say people would give anything, _anything_ to go back, to go back to that one time and fix _everything_ , to go back or "turn back the clock".

They would give _anything_ , they would make _one_ sacrifice, that's it, that's all they thought it was worth, hah, if they only knew.

"Turn back, change, **fix** , _everything_ , _**everyday**_ , that's their wish, no they weren't only the humans who asked, ghosts and other creatures alike.

None of them knew, of course _**he**_ did.

He "lived it" it _is_ his job. He has made more than one sacrifice for his power.

No it wasn't necessarily a sacrifice of life, though that came with the job description, Time can be cruel, Time can be kind, so should it's Master.

No his sacrifices were his sleep, _too busy_ , his friends, well lack there of, _too busy to make more,_ his hobbies, he was hardly allowed them, _he was much too busy,_ hell he didn't have much of a family now did he? _Much to busy to make one_ , And the biggest sacrifice he ever had to make? Ironically, is _**time**_.

The Master of Time had hardly any time for himself, hardly any time to rest, to relax, to enjoy any of the time-lines he kept clean, and if he somehow got the chance, like that "beach day" for example, the workload he would wake up to, was _**massive**_.

Turn back time? Well he could do that, but there might be a paradox.

That meant more time-lines, and more time-lines meant more work, more work meant more Observants and they always meant obnoxious meetings and tower tall masses of paperwork.

Oh Ancients how he hated paperwork, that's what he was currently doing.

Yes, yes, Clockwork Master of Time was currently hunched over his work desk doing paperwork. The two finished stacks were practically his youngest charge's height and Danielle reached a little short of his case.

"Two days, I don't do anything for two days and I have paperwork almost half my size", The Temporal ghost grumbled as he rubbed his eyes, "at least I only have a handful left"

He had been at it since yesterday, of course he had woken up late, no thanks to a certain Dreamweaver. Hey on the bright side, his case was clean.

Rubbing his eyes and letting out a small yawn, he diligently continued his final hand full of paperwork.

* * *

"Hey Clockwork? I think I left my- ", Nocturne stopped and looked at his friend, his sentence trailed off, " horns here"

The Dreamweaver had walked into the Citadel Half an hour after Clockwork attempted to tackle the hand full of papers.

Said Time Ghost looked miserable, irritable and just plain exhausted.

"Hey, you ok? "

"Yes Nocturne, I'm just finishing stacks of paperwork that are practically half my size for the fun of it, _**of course I'm ok"**_

The Dreamweaver rolled his eyes, his friend was tired, so he was being cranky.

"I didn't mean it like that and you know it"

No answer, so he changed tactics.

"How much left?"

"Five" was the mumbled reply

"Due time?"

"Today, in about 28.56 minutes"

"That's do able"

"From the five, three are reports or branching time-lines and the other two are practically gibberish"

"Well shit"

"Exactly"

"I would tell you to take a break, but your time is running out, boy that's ironic"

"The Master of Time running out of Time, irony at its best"

"Or its just exhaustion", replied Nocturne with a shrug, "that's a thing too you know"

"Haha, very funny"

"No, I'm serious, you look worse than shit Clockwork, when your done, _**bed**_ "

"Trust me, I would *yawn* love more than nothing to*yawn*"

"Wow, you really must be tired for me to get you into bed that easily"

"Yeah well, my head hurts, and I rather not do anymore paperwork, but if I don't finish in time, I'll end up with more anyway"

"Ouch, I'll help ok?"

"Why? Don't you have your own to do?"

"I finished mine already"

Clockwork raised a brow.

"Oh right, you've gained my insomnia"

"Yeah, so _fuck you_ , but I'm helping because you look ready to fall over"

"Thanks, and it's funny, The Master of Dreams with insomnia and-"

" _And_ the Master of Time who's running _out_ of Time"

"Fine, fine, let's start, here"

* * *

One page left. That's was all, with 10 Point something minutes left.

"Hey Nocturne?"

"Hmm?"

"Can you re*yawn" read this one for me? I can't *yawn* see it anymore 's sall blury"

The Dreamweaver really wanted to laugh, the poor guy was rubbing his eyes and yawning even more, even his speech was starting to slur.

He didn't laugh, Nocturne was a good friend, sometimes.

"Yeah, sure, let me see it"

* * *

"And done, want me to just drop all of this one of their desks?"

"Please"

"Alright - there, now bed"

The accentuated "march" motion was not needed, The Temporal ghost only nodded and sleepily walked up the stairs to his room.

Nocturne followed.

"OK, shirt off and on your stomach"

"What?"

"I'll give you a massage"

"Nocturne I have a headache not a back ache"

"I know, but sleeping it off would help and the best way to fall asleep is a massage"

" I don't need a-"

He was cut off by the Dreamweaver's glare.

"Your serious about this"

A nod.

"Fine"

* * *

 **CRack POp**

 _"Mnnh"_

"Feeling better now?"

 _ **"Mhm"**_

It was mumbled, but Nocturne seemed fine with it.

 **PoP crACk POp**

 _"Mhnn"_

"And you didn't want one, hah, look at you now"

 **CrAcK pOP**

 _"Mnh"_

The Dreamweaver chuckled, but continued to massage the soon to be less tense blue back.

* * *

About twenty minutes later Nocturne had noticed that Clockwork had gone quite, looking carefully to the side, while still continuing his ministrations, he noticed that The Time ghost had fallen asleep.

Smiling to himself, the Dream Ghost placed the thin bedsheet over his friend, up to his neck, and left him to have his well deserved nap.

Exiting the portal quietly from Clockwork's room to his own. Teleporting across such distances usually left him tired so he opted for his own nap.

After all for all the Sacrifices that he and his friend made, don't you think they deserve it?

* * *

 **AN:/ And that's that, I'm currently working on three, yes three drabbles, their titles are Training, Thunder and Akward. It won't necessarily be in that order, not when I say working on that means that all I've written so far was their Titles, I mean seriously I haven't started, but I will! I swear ^-^'.**

 **It's just that summer classes is all just Chem, all three of my classes are Chem and then there's the Chem lab, so yeah I be busy getting rekt by Thermochemistry, Enthalpy, Change in temperature and it's effect on Biological Ecomasses and Organic Chem. God being a Bio/Chem major sucks sometimes.**

 **But anyway you guys know the drill, send me your requests, and I'll write 'em, ask me your questions and I'll answer them, send me your reviews and I'll smile like the little nut I am.**

 **Love yall ^-^**


	14. Thunder

**A** **N/: Hey guys, this is the one of the chapters I was talking about, sorry for the wait, it was going to be posted yesterday but net went done at like 8ish, so I'm posting it today :)**

 **Anyway Enjoy and Review**

 **DISCLAIMER: I do not own Danny Phantom**

* * *

 **Thunder**

He hated it, he _hated_ it with a passion.

It's fucking June for crying out loud, why the _fuck_ was it raining?

Oh he _knew_ , he knew alright, fucking Vortex, the poor bastard probably couldn't get anyone to _ram_ him and now he was taking his anger out on Amity.

He swore, he wanted go up there and shut the weather ghost up _**permanently**_ , but that would require him going outside in _that_.

It was as if the world didn't care that he was dying, not only was it hot as fuck, the mating season heat wasn't helping and the _ **"long showers"**_ could only do so much and now it was _freaking_ raining.

Rain brought heat and he had enough of that, his hair is literally god damn fire, he did not need the heat, and he did not want this rain.

10:00pm and the rain was beating down on the Fenton house, it really wasn't the rain that bothered him, a little water didn't hurt. What truly bother him was-

 _ **CRacK cRaCK**_ **BOOM!**

The sound caused him to jump, but as much as he _despised_ thunder, that wasn't what he hate-

 _ *****_ **Flash** _ *** Whippish**_

The whip like crackle of electricity could be heard clearly, the lighting was close, just the thought caused him to whimper a bit.

Yes, yes, Dan Phantom, the almighty ravenger of worlds was afrai- hated, he _hated_ lightning.

* **Flash** * _**Whippish**_

He really hated lightning, the howling winds and the booming thunder in the background really didn't help.

For some inane reason he decided to leave his suddenly too dark room, his fiery hair was too dim, but the lighting was **not** appreciated.

It reminded him too much, the time he went into the portal, and the time he was first formed as a "full ghost". The flash, the crackle, the * _psssssh_ of singing skin, a scream, _his scream._

"Dan?! Dan are you alright?"

Said Phantom blinked.

He-he screamed? Looking around, his room did look like it was hit by a mini wail, that's probably what happened.

"I'm coming in"

Dan had to hiss lightly and the lamp Danny had in his hands.

"Are you ok?"

" 'm fine kid"

"You were screaming, nightmare?"

"Something like that, yeah"

 _ **CRacK**_

Dan sighed, rubbing his face, the storm was getting to him way worse than he thought it would.

* **Flash** * _**Whippish**_

Danny winced, Dan noticed.

"Are you ok kid?"

"Eheh", the younger Phantom rubbed his neck sheepishly, "yeah, sorry, I just don't like lighting, you know?

The large Phantom was confused, here he is trying to deny his fea- _hatred_ , while the kid just up and says it.

"Er, yeah, I know the feeling"

They were quite after that.

* * *

The silence wasn't tense, but it was getting awkward.

"Come with me kid"

"Why?"

"Because"

"What, afraid to go alone"

"Shut up"

Danny couldn't be sure, but he swore he saw Dan blush.

"Heh"

Reaching to the living room both males where surprised to see Dani staring trance like out the window.

"Hey squirt, what are you do-"

* **Flash** * _**Whippish**_

The girl smiled as she gazed upon the bolt of electricity in the sky unaware that the males behind her flinched.

"Isn't it cool?!"

" _Yeah_ " answered the boys simultaneously.

"I've always liked lighting, it reminds me that something can always be good even if it looks bad at first, I mean, lighting is dangerous yeah, but it lights up a dark sky to tell you that everything you know is still there with you, that good things can still come out of bad situations, kinda like you guys huh?"

They never thought about it that way.

"Since when have you been this philosophical Dani?"

"Squirt you've been hanging out with Nocturne and Clockwork too much"

"Ha ha, you guys, tease me if you want, but I've always considered myself to be like lightning, it stays during a storm but it's only there for a little while, afterwards people forget it "

Danny didn't like where this was going.

"No, that's not true, lighting always gets remembered-"

"Yeah not only that, it's freaking fast and deadly squirt, if you're gonna compare yourself to lightning fine, just don't singe me when you get pissed at the idiot over there"

"Heh, thanks you guys" the clone smiled only to end up yawning.

"Maybe you should go to bed Dani"

"Kid's right squirt you look tired"

"*yawn Nah, I wanna watch the lightning a little *yawn* longer"

The boys looked to each other and shrugged.

"Sure thing Dani"

"If you say so squirt"

And so they stayed watching the lighting together.

* * *

Though the boys flinched a couple of times neither of them said anything, simply enjoying the closeness of one another, after all they were all similar yet different.

And to think all of this came to be because of _**thunder**_.

* * *

 **Bonus:**

"Hey dudes, did you see-"

Tucker Foley quickly shut up at the sight in the Fenton living room.

Dan was laying on his back sprawled on the couch with Dani and Danny cuddles protectively in his arms, all three were sound asleep.

Smirking to himself the techno geek quietly pulled out his phone and took a picture to send to Sam.

"She'd love this"

 **'Click'**

 _ **Send**_.

* * *

 **AN:/ And that's that, short I know, but yeah. Remember when I said I was working on three more chapters? I meant four, but my head was hurting so excuse me there.**

 **Now can you guys do me a small favor? Can you please teach this child to write proper onomatopias for thunder and lighting? Because I'm wrote this and I'm cringing.**

 **Sad I know, I'll work on making my crappy writing better, but for now yall gotta deal with "cRacK" being the sound of Thunder XD.**

 **By the way Poly there's your children your** **welcome** **:)**

 **The chapter Fan-girl is next and it will be followed by Awkward, so keep your eyes open ;)**

 **But anyway you guys know the drill, send me your requests, and I'll write 'em, ask me your questions and I'll answer them, send me your reviews and I'll smile like the little nut I am.**

 **Love yall** ^-^


	15. Fan-girl

**A** **N/: Hey guys, this was supposed to be a Bonus for the "Mother" chapter, you know, when Nocturne was high :)**

 **Anyway Enjoy and Review**

 **DISCLAIMER: I do not own Danny Phantom**

 **Fan-girl**

 _"Ooh!"_

"Shit, did that break a bone?! It looked like it did"

"I don't think so Dan, she got back up"

"Well yeah Dani, they're getting paid for this, broken bone or not, they gotta fight till one of them's KO'd"

"Well I know that Danny, but it doesn't look like it's-"

 _ **CraCK!**_

"Now, now it's broken"

 _ **sLAm!**_

 _"Ooh!"_

All three Phantoms winced.

"You know, you three remind me of when me and Clockwork were younger"

Dani looked up-well tried to, it was really hard to look up at a person when said person had their chin on your head.

"What, you two used to watch boxing, when you were kids?"

"No, not really Dan, it was more like wrestling, just with weapons and powers"

"Ok, now that sounds cool"

"Indeed Daniel"

"So what was it for? I doubt it was for money"

"Actually dear, it was for title of strongest warrior-"

"And the reigning champion back then was named Dorris the Slayer"

"Woah, how strong was she?"

"Very Danielle, and she was quite beautiful too"

"Aww, you two had an idol crush"

The Two Masters' colored, but only lightly, Of course all three Phantoms laughed at them for it.

* * *

 **FIGHT!**

The announcer bellowed and the crowd went wild.

Standing around the magically sealed barrier that acted as an arena, every species of the Ghost Zone, of every age and gender were anxious to see if a new champion would be born or if Dorris the Slayer would reign supreme.

Though they could all sit on the stone "bleachers" no one did, far too caught up in the action of the two contestants in the "Arena".

On the right was the champ, Dorris the Slayer. The warrior was a tall blue woman clad in golden Greek armour, she was strong if her muscles and title were anything to go by, even her aura radiated an air of strength.

The armour she wore was glittering in the sunlight, from her helmet to her four arm braces, one for each, her weapons were sharp and gleaming, though they were not gold.

Dorris preferred it that way, she hardly ever used the gold weapons she won with her title, a strong but humble warrior.

It's no wonder she had many fans.

That and she was practically an enigma, the woman was tough yet kind, to both her fans and opponents, she never hit a fellow downed warrior nor did she ever deny an autograph from her fans.

But that's all the crowd knew about her, her face was hidden by the helmet she wore, it only showed her red eyes and even redder lips. She just appeared one day, signed up for a match, won and her fame spiralled from there on, hell she was champ for the fifth time in a row.

* * *

She was smiling, like she always did, it was beautiful to her fans and disarming to her opponents. If it weren't for her weapons and battle skills, her _**largely feminine figure**_ made her seem like an easy victory.

Oh how many opponents she had defaced for assuming she was weak, with all her weapons in arms, she charged. All four moving in a deadly blend of gore, beauty and precision.

Though it was pinned by her helmet, her long red hair flowed down to the small of her back, making her look like a blue and red tornado of death.

In her two upper arms she had twin swords, in her left lower arm she had a mace, in her right was a thick black whip.

Her opponent could only be best described as a cave man that looked like a pig. He literally looked like a boar, with the snout like nose and small tusks.

The Pigman was true to his caveman like appearance down to his weapon even. He used his club expertly to block of most of Dorris' attacks.

"That's not fair ***snort*** , you're cheating! ***snort*** are you afraid to fight me like a real warrior?"

The Pigman's comment bellowed through the arena.

"Hmf, I am a true warrior, never doubt that"

Dorris jumped back and to the crowds surprise, she let the weapons in her lower arms fall.

 _ **Clank**_

The crowds gasped, the mace and whip were on the ground and the now empty hands crossed at the back held in what looked like a tight handshake.

"Let there be no excuse then, a true warrior takes on any opponent regardless of their own disadvantages, only a coward would complain yet do nothing"

"Look who's talking! I'll fight you and show you that I am a warrior and that you _woman_ , should go tend to the younglings"

"Hah, you say that as of it were an insult, yes _ **I am a woman,**_ if you just noticed that then you've been hit far too many times with your own weapon"

The crowd laughed.

"As for tending to younglings, I see no reason for that to be an insult either, are you even capable of raising a child? Are you able to teach one fragile and younger than yourself to stand up and fight for themselves? Can you honestly say that you'd be willing to give up your very soul to keep them safe? Because if you can't, then you truly are no warrior"

The crowd erupted with cheers, majority of the women and mothers there were shouting, the fathers and other warriors were shouting with them.

 **"Dorris!"**

 **"Dorris!"**

 **"Dorris!"**

The warrior woman smiled.

"Now then, let's get on with it, no one wants to see us stand around and chat, let's give them a fight worthy of the title true warrior"

The Pigman nodded.

And they charged.

* * *

The match had ended relatively quickly.

Without the two extra weapons she needed to concentrate on, Dorris moved with a speed no one expected of her.

Rapidly bobbing and weaving to avoid Pigman's attacks. Finding and opening, she quickly made a jab at the vulnerable stomach before her causing the male to double over in pain.

Upper cutting him with the hilt of her left sword, then hitting him back down with hilt of her right. Jumping back she watched as Pigman took a wobbly step forward and collapsed in a heap.

"Borja the gruff is no longer able to battle, Dorris the Slayer remains victorious!"

The crowd went wild once more, **Dorris the Slayer reigns!**

* * *

"Damn she sounds badass"

"Right you were Dan-"

"Did you tap that?"

 _ **"God damn it Dan!"**_

The Phantom smirked at the purple tinted cheeks of the Time Master.

"I was 7 and Clockwork was 6, we literally met two months prior, and she was eons older than her, think about it, does your question hold any lick of sense?"

Dan blinked.

"Woah, easy there uncle Noccy"

The Dreamweaver simply shrugged and began playing with Dani's hair.

"Just saying"

"I think you hurt his feelings Nocturne"

"Eh, he's probably had worse, your not gonna cry right kid?"

"Shut up Dreambastard"

The large Phantom had his arms crossed as he pouted, looking nothing more than a petulant child.

They all laughed.

* * *

"Did you see that?!"

"I know, and she did it with only two of her arms!"

"There she is! Let's get her autograph!"

"Yeah! I even got an extra poster for my Master"

"Me too, he really likes her, I told him he should ask her on a date"

"Uh, Nocturne? I don't think that's going to happen"

"What? Why?"

The Time apprentice simply pointed.

The two had followed the warrior champ to a secluded area, but in their excitement they didn't realize how secluded it was.

There was Dorris, still clad in armour, _kissing_ a male.

"Ooh, my Master's not going to like this"

"I don't think mine will either Nocturne"

The male was taller than Dorris by a hair or two, he had blue skin and red eyes as well with a small mop of gray looking hair.

"That was wonderful dear, you always do so well"

"Why thank you sweetheart, now where-"

Dorris was cut off by the sound of a little in girl in a gray cloak running towards her.

The boys, who were now hidden by a white wall, we're surprised to see her lift the child into her arms.

"You were so strong mother! When I grow up I want to be just as strong as you are!"

"Of course you will dear, maybe even stronger"

"You really think so?!"

"Yes dear, but you have to train real hard Pandora"

The boys gaped as they looked at each other.

 _ **"Pandora?"**_

Shaking their heads they turned to listen to the three.

"Uh-huh, I'll train really, really hard to make you proud mother"

The child's enthusiasm caused the hood of the cloak to fall back, revealing a small blue face with long pink hair.

She looked so much like her mother, right down to the-

 _ **Red eyes!**_

 _ **Pandora had red eyes! Just like them!**_

"I'm already proud of you dear, but you need to be more careful alright?", the warrior gently pulled the hood back over her daughter's hair, "we can't have your eyes showing yet dear"

"Yes mother, but do you think I'm the only one like this?"

"With the eyes dear?"

"Yes father, am I the only one?"

"I don't think so sweetheart, who knows, you may even make friends with someone like you"

"I sure hope so, but your always right mother, maybe I will make friends"

* * *

"The fool would have lasted longer if he wasn't so boastful"

"True, she's much faster with two hands"

The Masters' of Time and Dreams sat together in the Screen room of the Citadel.

Simply recounting their opinions on the match. Of course they could have went with their apprentices, but they chose to let them enjoy themselves out at the arena.

"That was still a wonderful match, but of course we knew she would win"

"Yes, a strong, clever and beautiful woman, she would make the perfect mate"

The Time Master chuckled.

"Now, now let's not get carried away, you've never even spoken to her-"

"And you have?"

"As a matter of fact, I did?"

"Oh really? When?"

"When I went to get the tickets for our boys to enter, she was there, she actually _gave_ me the tickets, for some reason she seemed familiar"

"You were probably nervous, you get nervous around any female of our species"

"That's only because I know they can kill me if I say the wrong thing"

"True, he'll hath no fury than a woman scorned, speaking of, did you hear what happened to-"

The Dream Master was cut off by the Citadel's door banging open to reveal the apprentices.

"Master, Master we have to tell you something!"

The Masters' in question were amused, their apprentices had only been friends for two months and yet here they were speaking at the same time, the two were practically inseparable.

Their fear of the two forming a rivalry were admonished the second they introduced them to each other.

A joke the two Masters' would probably never know.

"Yes, yes Dorris won with two hands, we saw her you know"

"Yes as a matter of fact, Mr all seeing here was telling me that I wouldn't be able to court her-"

"You won't be", cut Clockwork.

"That's what we wanted to tell you", that was Nocturne.

"She has a mate!"

Both Masters' face fell instantly.

"But that's not the best part"

"Oh? And pray tell what is it my apprentice?

"She has a daughter that looks just like her"

The Masters' suddenly seemed very interested.

"Nocturne's right, she's looks about our age"

Their faces fell again.

"Oh? Boys don't tell me you where fighting over this girl?"

"What? No!"

"Master!"

The little time apprentice turned purple.

"If that's not it, then what?"

The Dream Master was amused, the child got flustered just as easily as his Master.

"Her name is Pandora!"

The Masters' froze.

"That's impossible, there is only one being named Pandora for this era, the name is only passed down to the Guardian's child"

"But Master, her name _is_ Pandora, that's what Mrs Dorris said"

"Won't she get in trouble with Mrs Pandora for that?"

"I'm not sure Nocturne, it's never happened before"

"Wait are all the "Pandoras" girls?"

"No Clockwork," The Dream Master answered this time, "there have been males, however unlike the first Pandora, it tended to be the males who easily became tainted by the desire of the box"

"He's right, the females tended to resist temptation far better than their male counter parts, I believe an eon ago Pandorus had fallen victim to the box and his daughter had to fight him, she was successful even though she was young, she's my age now"

"Mrs Pandora!"

"Exactly"

"I believe we should talk to her about this, I could even call her and her apprentice over to discuss"

"That sounds like a good idea, have all the children meeting-"

The Dream Master was cut off by his apprentice.

"Um, Mrs Pandora has an apprentice?"

"Yes? Your point Nocturne?"

Clockwork answered for him.

"Aren't _all_ apprentices of Pandora _their children_?"

The Masters' froze.

...

...

...

The apprentices wondered if they broke them.

...

...

"We are terrible friends aren't we?

"Yes, yes we are"

"We've know each other for several eons now right"

"Yes, 5.632 eons"

"And neither of us noticed"

"No we did not"

The Masters' spoke but their faces were blank, the realization hit them and it _hit them hard_.

"Should we call her?"

"What will we say?"

"Well she has a daughter doesn't she?"

* * *

"Well, well, The Master of Dreams and The Master of Time, to what do I owe the pleasure?"

"Hello dear, it's just a simple matter of us not seeing you for a while"

"Oh? Tell me Time Master, did the council tell you to arrange this?"

"As if I would make a meeting with anyone because the council told me"

The Dream Master's tone was laced with sarcasm.

"Of course", the woman chuckled, "my apologies, they've been bothering me for some time now"

"Why?"

"Because of my young apprentice"

"Ah, well we simply called to see if you were alright, would you like to join us for a chat? It's been quite a while"

"An invitation to the Citadel from the Time Master himself, how amusing, you two missed me"

"Of course dear, who else will shout at the Observants with me in _his_ defence?"

"Oh yes, the poor dear still needs to learn"

The Time Master glared at both his friends.

"You two are terrible"

"Yes we are"

The Time ghost could do nothing short at rolling his eyes at the two.

"I'll join you in a minute, I simply have to tell my mate to watch over my apprentice"

"Why don't you bring your apprentice with you?" Quarried the Dreamweaver.

"Hmm?"

"What he meant is why don't you bring the child with you, our apprentices have made quite a close friendship over the months and it would be nice to have all the children together"

"Hmm, very well-Pandora! Come along child, I have two of my friends who wish to meet you!"

"Coming Mistress!"

The two males smiled, here comes Pandora.

* * *

"Good evening"

"Good evening child, you are Pandora correct?"

"Yes sir"

"I am-"

"The Master of Time and The Master of Dreams is beside you"

"That I am, now before the old clock here bores you with introductions your mother already told you, why don't you go and talk to our apprentices, they're over there", the Dream Master gestured to where the two apprentices stood, slightly off in the back of the room.

"Yes sir, thank you sir"

With that the cloaked girl walked towards the apprentices, one was cloaked in purple and the other looked strikingly similar to the Dream Master, but she couldn't be sure, the long black hair covered the apprentice's face.

"I'm Clockwork", said the purple cloaked one as he stuck out his hand for a shake.

"I'm Pandora", she shook his hand.

"I'm Nocturne"

"Nice to meet you", she shook his hand as well.

"Come on, let's go, it's best not to bother the adults while their talking, we can go 'exploring' till they call us back"

They walked outside through the back, hopping on the floating gears and rocks around the Citadel.

"Is this wise?"

The girl asked Clockwork with a raised brow, not that he see it of course.

The Time apprentice nodded.

"We won't go far"

"Yeah it's even closer if you can fly"

"I-i can't"

The boys gaped, she couldn't fly _either_.

The girl stepped back, afraid she lost all chances of making friends, at least they didn't see her eyes, wait, maybe she still had a cha-

A sudden gust of wind blew the cloak down revealing pink hair and shocked red eyes.

"Woah, your eyes _are_ red"

The girl took another step back, she wanted to cry, not only could she not fly properly but they've seen her eyes, now they'll hate her for sure!

"Nocturne! Hey easy, we're not going to hurt you or say anything mean"

The girl took another step back.

"Yeah, we know how it feels"

"How?", she asked. How could they possibly know how she felt? All alone, teased because she was different? How could they possibly feel the same?

* * *

With the apprentices away for the time being, the adults had time to chat.

"Now Gentlemen, care to tell me the real reason you called me here?"

"We just wanted to see if you were well"

"We haven't Seen you at any council meetings since seven years ago"

"I've been busy, Guarding the box and raising Pandora"

The Time Master raised a brow.

"Is that all?"

Pandora's eyes narrowed.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Nothing, except that you haven't answered our first question", piped the Dream Master with a knowing smirk.

"Which was?"

The males looked at each other, the at Pandora.

"How are you _**Dorris?**_ "

"I'm fine thank-", her eyes widened.

The males in front of her smirked.

"I hate you both so much!"

She punched each of them on the shoulder.

They laughed but rubbed their shoulders in pain.

"I knew you seemed familiar"

"It really was ingenious, who would suspect kind Pandora to be Dorris the slayer?"

It was true, Pandora was strong, but she never wore her armour. In battle she would create weapons or a shield for her self or others if the need arose. Though it hardly was _ever_ needed. Her "ectoplasmic prison", which was her ability to trap an enemy in a box of ectoplasmic barriers where more than enough to hold an enemy.

No one would expect the Quiet Pandora to be the loud confident Dorris.

"I just wanted a break, I went for the first match for the fun of it, but then it began to inspire others, even my daughter, so I continued, I enjoy it and it gives me some peace from the dullness of the council"

"It gives us some peace too"

"Oh?"

"Majority of the Council meetings are the day after Dorris' match"

Pandora laughed.

* * *

"It's ok"

"No its not, you couldn't possibly understand," she was crying now, tears steaming down her small blue face.

"Actually, we do"

They spoke at the same time, removing their cloaks and hair, to reveal red eyes of their own.

The girl blinked.

 _ **They had red eyes, they had red eyes! Just like her, she wasn't alone.**_

"And we can't really fly either"

 _ **That just made it better.**_

She ran to them both and enveloped them in a hug, if they were going to talk at the same time, she would hug them at the same time.

"Woah, you have four arms!"

The girl pulled back.

"Cool!"

She smiled.

The boys took her to the spot they met, the Keep.

She and Nocturne jumped off the water fall, Clockwork refused.

They took her to the branches of the dimension, carefully avoiding the poppies.

"So how long have you two been friends?"

"Two months" they said, shrugging.

Pandora laughed, they did a lot of things at the same time.

"My formation day was two months ago"

"Really? How old are you?"

"I'm seven"

"Yes! I'm finally older than someone!"

"I'm taller than you though"

"No I'm taller"

"Alright you two calm down, I'll see who's taller"

"Sorry Clocky, she's taller"

"No way, you can change your height can't you?"

"How did you-"

"That's cheating!"

They laughed.

"It's kinda the reason I can't really fly too well, if I'm in the air too long I either appear a few feet in a different direction or I grow taller than a tree"

"The growing thing is really weird, I used to do that too, I still teleport randomly if I fly though"

"Same for me, actually that's how we ended up meeting at the keep"

"Oh wow", the girl giggled and to the boys it was a wonderful sound.

* * *

The trio returned to the Citadel, to see the adults still having a conversation and laughing about their pasts. It was the elder Pandora who noticed the children's return first.

"Hello children", she smiled.

"Hello mother" "Hello Mrs. Pandora"

Their hoods were down and you could see their smiling faces and bright red eyes clearly and they even spoke at the same time bringing and even bigger smile to the warrior woman's face.

"I see you've made friends dear"

"I did mother, you were right"

"Aren't I always?"

The child ran up to hug her mother.

"Alright dear it's time to go"

"Can she visit?", asked Clockwork.

"Or can we visit her?", that was Nocturne.

"Of course, a trio must stay together after all"

Everyone was happy with the elder Pandora's words.

* * *

"And from that day, me, Nocturne and Pandora became close friends, we'd watch every match together too"

"That's so cool" the little Phantom was beaming.

"Yup, we tend to see her mostly during council meetings now though, we've been busy"

"Huh, I can imagine, you guys still catch up on Old times though right?"

"Of course Daniel"

"Oh great, so I'm supposed to expect a large four armed woman to suddenly appear in the tower one of these days?"

"Yeah, probably"

The Dreamweaver smirked

 _"Ugh"_

They all laughed at the large Phantom's distraught face.

* * *

 **AN:/ And that's it, now this may seem a bit pointless but it's important, sorta, just trust me.**

 **So tiny Pandora everyone.**

 **I imagine Clockwork Nocturne and Pandora as the "terrible trio" something similar to Danny, Tucker and Sam.**

 **All three of them together dealing with powers they shouldn't have until they got older.**

 **By the way Poly there's your tiny ghosties your welcome:)**

 **The next chapter is called Awkward, so get ready ;)**

 **But anyway you guys know the drill, send me your requests, and I'll write 'em, ask me your questions and I'll answer them, send me your reviews and I'll smile like the little nut I am.**

 **Love yall ^-^**


	16. Awkward

**A** **N/: Hey guys, this is the long awaited chapter, it's about 2 pages longer than the beach Chapter, I think this is my longest one, there will also be a part two :)**

 **Anyway Enjoy and Review**

 **DISCLAIMER: I do not own Danny Phantom**

* * *

 **Awkward**

Ever feel like the world was out to get you? Like you avoid that _one thing_ but every where you go it just happens to be there?

Yeah well, that's how Nocturne felt, not only where there the human dreams but coming back to the ghost zone was even worse.

Honestly between the mates and the porn infused dreams of the humans, no one could blame him for being _irritable_.

Actually, the reason he was irritable was because he was being called upon, _during his rounds no less_ for every little thing.

He didn't particularly like his rounds right now, but you don't interrupt him while he was doing his goddamn job. _Especially_ when it was mating season.

Of course most ghosts participated in Mating season, well there isn't much of a choice, "most ghosts" also included majority of the Council members but of course the Observants seemed to forget that just because they don't mate or feel any effects of mating season what so ever, doesn't mean that he didn't.

Because most of the Council were too busy sucking faces or sucking-ehems*

That left him, Clockwork and a handful of others to carry out the _their_ jobs plus their own.

Of course to the members giving up their oh so precious _ero_ time, they got days off for it, but then again they didn't have to work everyday and night.

Nocturne could swear that he nor Clockwork would get anything more than a day off just _because_.

 _ **"You are Masters', uphold your title of power, or are you undeserving? One day should be enough, you hold more power than most of the members here, why should you complain?"**_

He really wanted to punch them in their Giant eyes, did they not understand that after a month or months of work recuperation did not happen in a day? As a matter of fact they didn't even get a day off, they got less than half that, because of lectures on their laziness.

Honestly, could you blame him for being Irritable? Irritable not angry, angry would suit a Master, they must remain a role model, calm, cool and collec-fuck that, he was pissed.

Fine, throw yourself into work, where you'll have no time to relieve yourself of your _stress_. Where you have to do other people's work for them, while their out _making out._ At least show some fucking gratitude.

"If they're treating me like this imagine how they're treating Clock-"

The Time Master's abode was in front of him. He was so busy mumbling to himself he didn't realize how far he flew.

Still it wouldn't hurt to check up on a friend, would it?

* * *

"Look I can't do five things at once, I'm already dealing with these clashing time lines, I'm not too keen on stepping foot in a lava pit and just because my core type has an affinity for the cold, doesn't mean I'm going into that Tundra, can't you ask anyone else?"

"Are you complaining? Others are doing their parts and much more without so little as a peep, yet here you are complaining-"

"I'm not complaining, it's just there's-"

"They are two realms correct? Then it falls under your forte of Time and Space"

"It maybe my forte but not my element"

"Then control it as realms"

"But-"

"No excuses Clockwork"

With that the Observant who's face was shown on of the Time Screens glitched out, signifying the end of transmission.

"Fine, they want me to control them as realms then so be it"

As cliché as it was, two realms were colliding, one of fire the other ice. Either way, one will end up melted and the other will end up doused.

The leaders where too busy with their mates in a different realm to deal with their own.

So now he was stuck with preventing their collision all because they decided to leave their realm to chase tail.

* * *

Taking a breath the Temporal Ghost closed his crimson eyes, when he opened then, the we're glowing blue.

Was this unfair? **Yes**. Was this someone else's mess that he had to clean up? **Yes**. Was this pointless and utterly stupid? No, not really, he wasn't core-less, no other ghosts should suffer because of one, well two. Would this take a lot of energy? _**Absolutely**_ , but he didn't give a fuck.

With out stretched hands and a burst of power the two colliding realms began to glow as a blue aura covered them and then they where pushed back, _hard._

The people of their respective realms must have fallen with the amount of force that they were pushed. Was it a bit mean? Yes, but that's what they get for letting their leaders wander off, when they should be taking care of their realm.

 _ **"I mean, if they need to stick their dicks in someone, couldn't they do it in their own realm?"**_

Yes, Clockwork the all powerful Master of Time was pissed, well irritated, or frustrated, urgh you name it he was it, but he didn't stop to dwell, he had more work to do.

With eyes still glowing blue, the Temporal ghost faced towards the screen showing the over lapping time lines. Not only could this easily destroy an original time line, but it could create and even worse one.

That meant more work, which meant Observants, the Time Master's face morphed into a cruel smirk.

"All because one idiot got curious and didn't listen when told not to touch," the smirk grew wider, "how about a little lesson, hmm?"

 **SNAP!**

The snap of fingers resounded, _the snap of bone_ , a shrill scream could be heard reverberating through the screen.

The blue skinned ghost smiled cruelly, "there, now you don't touch and it won't touch you, nothing will clash now that your curiosity is sated"

The howling male in the background vowed to never touch the green portal that caused him so much pain, he would never let himself near one, _ever_.

Now that the realms were back in place and the time lines where restored albeit a bit violently, Clockwork still had meetings to schedule and let's not forget, more paperwork, _because what was his afterlife without it?_

He didn't get to think about it long, because right then, an Observant made its self known on one of the time screens.

"I see you have prevented the collision, have you fixed the clashing time lines as of yet?"

"Yes-"

"Good, schedule a meeting with the leader of the Amazonian ghost women along with guardians, the members of the Farfrozen and the Wastelands-

"With all due respect, the Farfrozen and the Wastelands have never gotten alo-"

"Their leaders will make sure no harm comes to their members, this meeting is to be based on not only the colliding realms but also on the return of the creature's from their extinction"

The Time Master internally rolled his eyes, _this was getting ridiculous._

"You are to meet them personally"

 _It just got worse._

"Did I not say I was not fond of stepping into the Lava pits that is the Wasteland? Did I also not say that I won't be going into the Tundras of the Farfrozen-"

"Well you are to go there as well as Undergrowth's realm, you are to enlist him and his 'children' to aid us with produces that the majority of harvesting ghosts will not provide for these months, him along with Vortex of course"

"You know very well that Vortex and Undergrowth do not care for-"

"Well then you make them care Clockwork, there are more important things to do than listen to you insistent whining, we all have work to do, now get to yours"

Remember when I mentioned Clockwork was pissed? He wasn't, now he is.

"I am not whining, I am simply stating that these meetings would do more harm than goo-"

He almost growled, this was the fifth time he was cut off.

"I do not want to hear it Clockwork, you have work to do, and speaking of, here you go"

A flash of light gave way to produce five high stacks of papers.

"I expect this to be done by tomorrow"

This time Clockwork really did growl.

"What is all of this? _I am_ _ **not**_ _a scribe"_

"Yes well, majority of the scribes are _unavailable_ , so you and a handful of others must take their place"

"This is beyond ridiculous-"

"No, what is ridiculous is you complaining, you hardly have anything to complain about, others are working hard-"

"Oh yes because it's so very difficult to move some rocks from one side of

Terraformě to another"

"You have your orders Clockwork, now calm yourself before I consider your attitude insubordination"

With that the Observant ended transmission.

"Tch, give me meetings that might start wars fine, but scribe work? They're pushing the limits, they know very well how much I _detest_ paperwork"

"Hey Clockwork?"

"What?!" Growled out the Time Master, blue-red eyes flashing .

"Woah, hey, easy it's just me"

The Temporal ghost sighed, glowing blue eyes turned completely red.

"Sorry Nocturne"

"Observants?"

"When isn't it?"

"Let me guess they gave you a ridiculous amount of work"

"As usual"

The Time Master gestured to the stacks of paperwork, all of them where half his size.

Nocturne winced, _scribe work._

"I know the feeling"

"I want to doubt that, but knowing my so called 'employers', it likely isn't far from the truth"

"Sadly, it's not, just finished doing some errands for them"

"Speaking of, not to be rude but why are you here?"

The Time Master's tone wasn't as harsh as it was when Nocturne came in, but it did still have its edge.

The Dreamweaver gave _no_ fucks.

"I was finishing up errands for the one eyed assholes, because they won't let me finish my rounds otherwise, I only managed to finish half of my rounds this morning, completed a full cycle last night, but the assholes kept nagging, I'll try to finish a double cycle to make up for the half, but for now, I need a break"

Clockwork's tone softened considerably.

"Sorry, you can stay in one of the guestrooms, take a break while you can"

"I could say the same to you"

"No, I have a lot of work to do"

With a wave of his hand the stacks of paperwork disappeared, presumably to his office.

"Alright, I'll help, when is it due-"

"No, you go get some rest"

"Clockwork, when is it due?"

The Time Master sighed.

"The meeting's date wasn't given, but the scribe work is for tomorrow"

"Time?"

"Not given"

"Alright then," the Dreamweaver kneaded his fingers gently into Clockwork's shoulders and pulled him close, "that means you have enough time to take a break with me~"

"No it does n-"

"Yes it does, think about it, the meetings can be set up for tomorrow at mid-morning , just let everyone know later today, and the scribe work is due at anytime tomorrow, which means after my rounds tonight I can help you with it"

He didn't know why he was considering it, probably because of the massage Nocturne was giving him, but he was considering it.

"What about you? Won't you be tired?"

"I'll probably end up with scribe work too, so we can do it together, of course after we take a break and _do it together~_ "

"A break _would_ be nice"

Yep, it was definitely the massage.

"Good"

The Dreamweaver kept massaging his friend's shoulders until he saw a chance... and latched on the the pale blue neck.

"What is with you and my neck?"

"You like it"

"Maybe"

He still gave the Dream ghost more lei way to the specific spot on his neck.

 _"Mnn"_

"I worked hard all last night and today, the least I deserve is to hear you a little louder"

The Dreamweaver smirked.

Pulling away, the Time Master smirked back.

"Is that a challenge?"

"Definitely"

But before they could continue, an aggravating voice reverberated through the tower.

"Clockwork why didn't you-"

The Time Master in question floated up, his legs having turned into a tail, to the highest time screen in the room and ended the Observant's transmission himself.

Nocturne, noticing that his friend's mood flipped a 180, quickly attempted to pacify him.

"No Nocturne, I have work to do"

"Work that you can do later"

"Nocturne I'm-"

With in a blink the Time Master found himself on his couch, arms pinned above his head with the Dreamweaver straddling him.

"No, _I'm serious_ you _**Need. A. Break**_."

"Nocturne let me go, I have to start"

"Oh please, you and I both know that if you wanted to you could break free yourself"

He was right, Nocturne had both of Clockwork's hands pinned with only his left, hell he still had his staff, he could easily escape if he wanted to, only, _he didn't want to?_

Clockwork was moved from his musings by Nocturne's voice.

"Besides we still have a challenge~"

"Challenge? What challenge? "

"This"

The Time master could only gasp as a cool feeling passed through his chest to gently rest on his core.

"If you can last more than five minutes without a sound, I'll let you go, and I'll even help you set up your meetings, so deal?"

 **Five minutes, could he last five more minutes? He doubted it, not even Nocturne managed to last longer than five minutes, the only one who lasted longer than that was Pan, but** _ **it was**_ **Pan, the warrior's tough.**

"Deal"

Nocturne smirked and moved his hand.

* * *

Of course this wasn't the first time they've teased each other like this, as a matter of fact, since they came of age, they used to do it every matting season and some regular days when the mood arose.

The last time they did it though, was three millennia ago, and Pan was also with them, core play and sex in general was stress relief for all three of them but as they got older, they got busier and things got less and less touchy feely. Sure they kept in contact, just not _in contact._

So they haven't done anything in a while, big deal, the wait makes it even better, well at least according to Nocturne, he was even thinking about calling Pan in for the fun, a _reunion_ for all three of them.

But for now the Dreamweaver kept focus on the body that was twitching beneath him.

* * *

What most people don't know about cores are just how sensitive they are, sure if they are damaged or destroyed the ghost is doomed but if they are touched in certain ways the pleasure it brings the ghost is indescribable.

See the energy of every core is a condensed spherical shape, but it releases energy like strings around it, the color of these strings depends on the core types of the ghost.

Anyway, when these "strings" are pulled gently and or quickly it's called Core play, and if done long enough can lead to orgasm, which is the reason some ghosts take part in it.

Not many do however, it has to do with trust, to have another being literally playing with your 'life' isn't always appealing, but for those who take part, trust is the number one thing they have. And sex, a lot of it.

* * *

Nocturne smirked as he slowly and deliberately curled a "string" from Clockwork's blue core as the Time Master tried his best not to moan.

The Clock in Clockwork's case was not his core, though it gave away his core type quite easily. The Clock and Case for all purposes was for protection, with a near unbreakable glass and a Clock _"just in case"._ In an attack his core would be extremely hard to get to, especially considering his powers.

For ghosts, the more visible their core was, the stronger the ghost. In his case under his cloak of stars, Nocturne had a purple Crescent moon right where his core would be, it was practically a target, if you could get to it, his own shadow would practically rise up and protect him if things ever got that bad.

What? He has the ability to control shadows to an extent, where do you think his "tentacles" comes from?

Speaking of he had a _perfect_ use for them right now...

* * *

"D-dammit Nocturne that's chea-ting"

The Dreamweaver was smiling.

"It is not, you're the one who's being stubborn with your tail, and since my hands are full, I decided that I didn't want your tail feeling left out"

With every "pull" Nocturne made, Clockwork's tail would curl and thrash, he did a pretty good job resisting the Dreamweaver's teasing, but now that Nocturne's shadows, he refused to call them tentacles, we practically curling, cupping and rubbing his tail, even as it moved, biting his lip could only do so much.

"You know you can give up"

"N-no, I need to finish my work and since you offered to help, I should finish f-faster"

"We'll see"

Nocturne pulled two strands.

Clockwork inhaled sharply, the feeling, his tail thrashed and curled sporadically against Nocturne's "shadows"

His eyes slowly became half lidded as lust started to cloud his thoughts and body.

Nocturne was impressed, the four minute mark was almost up, and the little fucker under him, wouldn't give in.

Of course the challenge could go either way at this point, but Nocturne highly doubted that Clockwork could take anymore, his tail was thrashing, curling and rubbing with his shadows.

Every time he would pull a strand, Clockwork would move his head to the side, while his tail would thrash some more, as much as he wanted to bite that "spot" on the blue neck, he figured it wouldn't be fair and not as fun either.

"Hey Clock, you alright?", Nocturne was still smiling, "you're drooling a bit there"

The Time Master said nothing too lost in the _feeling_ , half lidded eyes became more clouded, his tail was doing _something_ with the shadow, at this point all he wanted was _**more**_. Still he was biting his lip, he wasn't fond of losing, lust or not.

"You're really stubborn aren't you? I wonder, how long you will last?"

With that he pulled a fourth strand.

With another sharp inhale, Clockwork's half lidded eyes slipped closed and he lost what little concentration that he had on keeping his tail.

 _"Mngh"_

Nocturne would have smirked except that because he was straddling Clockwork, the second his tail deformed into legs, the pressure caused the Time ghost to shift and buck right there and they both let out a moan.

 _"Mnngh"_

God it was the beach thing all over again.

Removing his hand from Clockwork's core, he easily grabbed the Time Master's hand to check his watch.

"Well, 5.5 minutes almost a full 6 minutes, new record, you win"

As promised the Dreamweaver sat up to let Clockwork go, but said Time ghost didn't move, his eyes were closed and he was panting, he just wanted _more_ , and if he moved he'd lose the _feeling_.

Somewhere in his lust ridden mind he knew he was forgetting something, something he needed to do, but he couldn't remember, nor did he care right now, all he wanted was the _feeling_ , he wanted more and dammit he was going to.

"You ok? "

Nocturne had gotten closer to check on Clockwork only to end up pulled down and sprawled over him. He was going to ask what was wrong when he felt fangs graze his neck, and seconds later he was nipped at the very spot, the irony was not lost on him, especially when _he_ ended up moaning.

He found it on two tries, that's not even close to fair.

He was bitten a tad bit harder.

 _"Mgnh"_

Clockwork's left hand was roaming now, he still had his staff in his right hand, which was still over his head, this time of his own accord.

"H-ey, what about your work"

" 'morrow", was the breathy reply.

The Dreamweaver was nipped again and a certain someone's hand reached its destination.

"Y-you sure?"

"Yes"

Well that was a cut and clipped reply.

Before he could comment on it, the hand moved, _**shit**_.

 _"Mgnh"_

He had to do something before he lost himself, sure he enjoyed messing with his friend but if it ended up messing with his work, he knew what the repercussions were.

Hell, he would gladly continue but only when he knew Clockwork was alright with it, and as enthusiastic as he seemed, it wasn't really him, so Nocturne easily re-pinned the Time Master into the same position they were in when it all started.

Yes, up to the straddling and all, probably a bad idea, considering that the Temporal ghost's _need_ could easily buck up to meet his own, but it was the best precaution against getting "jumped", normally that wasn't a concern when it came to Clockwork, but mating season lust does you weird.

"Hey, come on Clock, or do you need some help to regain your senses?"

 **Help? Why would he need help-** _someone took it!_

* * *

"You are a terrible friend"

Nocturne sat up and smirked.

"I am not, but what's with you and the staff? Honestly, even in fevered core exhaustion you magically become coherent enough to take back the staff and now bathed in lust and heat and halfway to jumping me, you still clear up for the staff"

"I did not jump you"

"You almost did"

"I did not"

"Yes you did, look at this hickey, what does it tell you?"

"It tells me that you need to give me back my staff and come down here"

"Eager are we?"

"Your fault"

"True, but your work?"

"Tomorrow"

The Time Master was gently tugging Nocturne towards him.

But the Dreamweaver pulled back.

"You sur-mfh!"

Clockwork apparently got fed up and pulled Nocturne down into a deep kiss. Successfully shutting up the Dreamweaver.

Pulling each other closer as their tongues battled for dominance. Clockwork easily placed Nocturne's right hand on his case, while taking back his staff from his friend's left hand all in a swift motion.

Nocturne didn't seem to care, at this point they where both in _need_ , friction was becoming their new best friend, in their position if either one moved there would be _friction_ , even better when they moved together.

Flushed faces and full on heat, clothes were getting unbearably stifling.

Nocturne had one hand playing with Clockwork's core while the other one was fumbling with the Time ghost's cloak.

Clockwork on the other hand, had his right hand over his head, the staff was in it, his left hand couldn't be seen, but by the Ancients Nocturne could _feel_ it.

The cloak was finally off, thrown hazardly behind them and just in time too, Nocturnal had pulled another strand causing Clockwork the moan and buck up, which also caused the Dreamweaver to moan.

 _"Mngh"_

"Y-you're a f-fucking tease, m-move your left hand"

The Time Master did, very slowly.

 _"Mgnh"_

"Heh, payback"

Of course Nocturne began pulling a couple of strands and curling them.

 _"Mgnh"_

"F-fine, we're even"

"G-ood"

* * *

And the kissing started again, Clockwork's left hand was now on Nocturne's hip, Nocturne's right hand was still messing with the Time Master's core, while the left moved between playing with the now loose white locks or lifting the purple tunic up.

Most of Clockwork's midriff was now exposed but he could care less, far too caught up in the _feeling_ and the _ **friction.**_

Nocturne was now lying flush on the Time Master, their legs were tangled together. He only leaned slightly to left to continue playing with the core on his right, at this point a single jerk would cause both of them to buck up and moan.

The sensitivity was getting to them, but just as Nocturne's left hand finally moved to grip Clockwork's wait band...

"Ehem"

The proverbial record broke.

Still in lip lock they looked left to see all three of the Phantoms.

Well this was _**awkward**_.

Of course it was made worse.

Dani came out of her shock first.

"Pay up boys"

Danny and Dan who were still in a stupor, reached unseeingly into their pockets and simultaneously gave the greens to Dani.

* * *

"Kids I love you all, yes that includes you Dan, but your all mood killers, now explain" The Dreamweaver's tone held no room for argument.

The two on the couch had separated pretty quickly after Dani had apparently won a bet on them.

A purple Clockwork was sitting on the couch in the jutax position, with a couch pillow in his lap, unlike Nocturne, he didn't have shadows to hide his er "problem".

While Clockwork was embarrassed, Nocturne was borderline furious, not only was his fun cut short before it happened, but now he couldn't calm down.

And by the pillow, he guessed it was the same for Clockwork. But that's mating season for you, can't stop until you finish, and they were no where near done, especially now.

"Well, on our way here I bet these two that you two would be screwing on the couch-"

"And I told squirt that you two weren't that kinky, but _core play on a couch_ , you really are kinky Clock"

Said Time Master turned even more purple at the comments of Dani and Dan, he was using his hair to hide his face since his cloak was- _somewhere_.

"And I bet that you two weren't screwing each other"

"Clueless", shouted the other two Phantoms.

Nocturne wasn't impressed.

"And? That still doesn't explain why you are here or how you all got to this bet in the first place"

"Oh that's easy, I found out at the beach, see I noticed that Clockwork touched his neck after pushing you in the water, and I remembered him freaking out when I told him that you gave him a hickey when you where high that one time, I just put two and two together"

The youngest Phantom then smirked , "or should I say put _one and one together_ "

They didn't think it was possible, but Clockwork turned even more purple, but royal purple did look good on him though.

"Pfft, nice one squirt!"

Nocturne glared at the large Phantom.

"Er well squirt told me and I could see it I guess, I just couldn't picture you two as kinky, but each to his own, right Clocky?"

Though he didn't turn a darker shade of purple, the Time Master did try to sink into the couch.

"Leave him alone"

Thee three Phantoms straightened up, Nocturne's tone was starting to tint with an echo.

Living around both the Masters they learn that the "echo" was never a good thing. Dan joked about it once, when both Clockwork and Nocturne were particularly fed up with the Observants, by saying "their authority was showing, Nocturne reply was frightening, _**"it's just the sound, you haven't felt our auras".**_

The almost echo had all three wondering if they should have just left the two alone, they were probably _really frustrated_ and their only break was ruined by kids.

As if sensing this, Clockwork spoke up, his voice had a slight echo as well, it seemed like his embarrassment didn't take an edge of the frustration.

"Look we're not mad, we just want to know why, you cane for the "unexpected visit"

"Eheh, sorry about that, we just wanted help in dealing with this whole mating season thing, we really didn't mean to pop in while you where busy, we made the bet as a joke and I was going to ask you if it was true but, I guess we found out anyway?" Dani squeaked.

"It seems so, and weren't you to stay at Samantha's pool when you couldn't handle the heat?"

"Yeah, about that Clockwork, we kinda got kicked out today?" Shrugged Danny with a wince.

Clockwork raised a brow.

"Well, uh, this morning we were at Sam's house in her pool, but she and Tucker ended up fighting about electronics in the pool and some how one of Tucker's tech fell, broke and almost electrocuted us"

"And how does this relate to you getting kicked out exactly?"

The echo in Nocturne's voice was starting to pick up.

"Sam's mom came out at that moment, saw the mess and decided to sue the company, Sam has to go and Tucker's going along with it because he just bought the tech and it's supposed to be shatter and waterproof-"

Danny found himself cut off by Dan.

"And rich bitch didn't want us in the pool with out supervision and none of us wanted to go with them and without the pool, we needed other ideas on how to deal with mating season, so we came here"

"Thank you Dan, now look, you can't stop the whole mating season thing and ignoring it is not fun, but it's not impossible, usually we work to ignore it-"

"But Nocturne, we don't have anything to do, it's summer and there not much ghosts to keep out of amity"

"We are well aware Daniel, so if I may propose, I can ask the Observants to assign you tasks to keep you all occupied, it may get your mind of things-"

"Alright Oldman, I'll bite, what happens if those one eyed bastards try to take advantage of us?"

"I'll personally check the assignments given to you, Dan"

"In that case I'm in"

"Fine by me"

"I got nothing better to do, so why the hell not"

"Good you all agree, I'll talk to the one eyed assholes, now head home, you can come back Monday by then they should be assigning new tasks to everyone"

"Thanks uncle Nocturne, bye Clockwork!"

"Goodbye Danielle" "Later dear"

"Bye Nocturne, later Clockwork"

"Bye Daniel" "Bye Phantom"

"Well looks like I'm taking care of those two brats, I'll be back Monday I guess, when I'm gone don't break the couch"

 _ **"Leave Dan!"**_

The large Phantom left laughing, both the Masters' were blushing.

* * *

"This was a mess, I'm-"

"If you say work I swear-"

"I was going to say shower"

Nocturne rolled his eyes.

"That's going to be a long shower"

Now it was Clockwork's turn to roll his eyes.

"Yes well, it's better than nothing"

"So what I'm nothing?"

"Really? After what just happened? I rather not have that repeat, very much"

"Are you blaming me for that?"

"No but you did snap at the children"

"I did not, and-"

They both paused.

"Pfft, haha"

"That's sad, we're actually arguing with each other"

"What's worse is that it really won't get anything done"

"It might~"

"No, I'm taking a shower"

"With me?~"

"No"

With that the Time Master headed for the bathroom.

"You know what, fuck you, I'm calling Pan"

"Don't call Pan"

"Too late"

"Dammit Nocturne", shouted Clockwork from somewhere back there.

"Hey Pan, how are you dear?"

"Nocturne! It's been awhile, where is Clockwork?"

"Attempting to take a Shower"

"Attempting? _Oh!_ Nocturne go help him!"

"He doesn't want me too"

"Honestly you boys, I swear I'll go there myself"

Nocturne smirked

"It's why we called Pan"

"Hmm, alright, I've got time, I was supposed to have a meeting but it looks like it will be for tomorrow"

"So you're in?"

"You know me, I'm always up for the challenge"

"Shall I portal you in my good Pandora?"

"No sir Nocturne, I'll come my own way, a lady's got to prepare"

"If you say so Pan, I'll keep Clockwork ready for you"

"You'd better~"

"Heh"

* * *

 **Bonus:** as if this wasn't long enough already :^)

"Hey Clockwork, Pan is comming"

"You're kidding"

"Nope, she said for me to keep you ready"

"I can't believe you called Pan"

"You wanted to take a shower without me"

"I didn't even get to take the shower!"

"Sad, now come'ere, Pan says keep you ready, and you know we can't lie to Pan"

"Noct-mfh!"

 _"Mhn"_

Nocturne pulled away from the kiss.

"Isn't that better?"

"You are a terrible friend"

"Am not, but I do want to finish what I started on that couch"

/~

 _"Mngh"_

"W-would it *pant* kill you to s-stop*pant* teasing me?"

"No, but I love it when you stutter~"

"D-dammit *pant* Nocturne, stop *pant* I'm-"

"Now Nocturne, I said keep him ready, not take him all the way"

"Heh, sorry Pan, got carried away"

"Seems you have, are you alright Clockwork?"

"*pant* yes, Nocturne's been teasing me,*pant* get him for me Pan"

"My pleasure"

"Hey easy there Pan, whoa, hey, come on put me down, I'm serious Pa-mmf!"

/~

When it came to four hands, Pandora knew how to use them, _for everything_.

One arm was holding Nocturne up while she kissed him. The Second was playing with his core and the other two well you _know_ what they where playing with.

"P-pan *pant* s-slow down I-i won't la-*pant*"

"Hmm should I slow down? Clockwork what do you think"

The Time Master in question was enjoying the show, having caught his breath.

"Hmm, I don't think so"

"Faster it is then"

"C-clockwork, *pant* you're a terrible friend *pant*"

"I know"

"Shi-*pant* P-pan, s-slow down *pant* Pan!"

"Sorry, not going to happen Noccy"

"W-what *pant* about you?"

"Me? Oh I'm quite alright, I'm enjoying my self very much"

"A-and C-clockwork?"

She slowed down, giving Nocturne a chance "breathe"

"Huh you right, I can't have him miss the fun, now can I"

"No-no Pan, I'm good right here"

"Hardly dear, you didn't get to finish, it'll only get worse"

"I can handle-hmf!"

Because she wasn't kissing Nocturne, she had an extra hand, the one she was using now to kiss and hold onto Clockwork.

 _"Mhn"_

"Good to see my old tongue trick still works"

"Now how about we take this to the bed room boys?"

Said boys could only nod.

/~

Four hands, a hand in each core and you by now know _**exactly**_ where the other one is.

It didn't take them long, Pan didn't mind, she would get her turn sooner or later.

 _"Mhnng" "Mnngh"_

"D-dammit P-pan

"E-evil woman"

"You both love me"

"Yes, yes we do now come here"

"You have four arms"

"And we have four arms together"

"Payback"

Pandora simply laughed, just like the good old days.

Nocturne still kissed with a fiery passion and Clockwork still touched her with a fierce gentleness.

With both their hands over her, she followed them soon enough.

/~

If anyone were to walk in, the first thing they would probably notice was that pink hair covered most the top half of the bed.

And though the owner of said hair could be presumed nude, white and black hair covered her bare blue breasts, making it seem as if she wear wearing a yin and yang bra.

Every ones bottom half was covered by a thin purple sheet.

Clockwork was on the right, laying quite comfortably on Pandora's chest, her two right arms curled around him.

Nocturne was on the left laying on her stomach, quite contented, her two left arms were draped over him.

All three lay sound asleep together.

* * *

 **AN:/ And that's that, I'm currently working on the second part, it's called Overload and that will give us a bit more insight on the whole Friends with benefits trio. So yeah, more Pandora!**

 **And for the some parts I was trying to get Cw and Nocturne to talk at the same time, but they would have a different response to both the Phantom trio and Pandora.**

 **A part of the relationship between the three of them that will be mentioned in part two, is how they act semi- serious/professional with each other.**

 **Poly there's your OT3 :)**

 **Night ofStarClan and Ghostwolf19 your welcome ;)**

 **But anyway you guys know the drill, send me your requests, and I'll write 'em, ask me your questions and I'll answer them, send me your reviews and I'll smile like the little nut I am.**

 **Love yall ^-^**


	17. Overload

**AN/: Hey guys, this the part two of Awkward. It continues directly after we left off. It's a bit long, in fact I was going to split it into two, but then the part two would have a part two and that's just- ugh I'm rambling.**

 **Anyway Enjoy and Review**

 **DISCLAIMER: I do not own Danny Phantom**

* * *

 **Overload**

He didn't want to move.

Not only was he warm and comfortable, his body was pleasantly tired. He no longer felt clouded by heat and frustration.

Of course it was still mating season so those would be back soon enough. But the point was that right now, he did not want to move.

Well I doubt you could blame him, the bosom he was laying on was far too comfortable.

Pandora's breasts were full, soft and supple, he would know, after all he _may or may not have_ ran his tongue over them only minutes prior.

Point blank he was comfortable, and did not want to move, did I mention he didn't want to move? Because he _really_ didn't.

But he had work to do, _Scribe work, **ugh.**_

After a couple minutes of internal battle, Clockwork decided to move...

His head, he refused to get up, _too comfortable._

Looking at Nocturne's relaxed face, he smiled, the Dreamweaver was curled onto Pandora's side, her stomach was his pillow.

Pandora herself had a serine expression, lips slightly parted as she slept. Quite comfortable with both "her boys" on her, they were a nice blanket when it came to the slight draft.

The Time Master hadn't moved, he was content with watching the two, the three of them had been through everything together.

From the gruelingest of training, to their first war, when they first learned to fly, to being each other's first, they were inseparable. And three millennia later and they still were.

He finally decided to get up when Pandora's hands moved, the upper one began lightly playing with his hair, while the lower rubbed his back and shoulder in a soothing manner. Whatever thoughts Clockwork had on moving were gone in an instant.

Though Pandora was still very much asleep, the movements were inbred. When Clockwork was younger, his visions used to clash with his dreams and it was always the worst of them, scattered bodies, the remains of the war, the fading of the ghosts he knew, it would always cause the poor ghost to scream.

When Pandora was visiting, she would soothe him back to sleep, usually when Nocturne was busy with his rounds and couldn't give him good dreams or at the very least a dreamless sleep.

The clashing of his dreams and visions still happened but he could handle it far better than before, but it was still nice to be comforted.

She must have sensed his distress, _namely the five stacks of paperwork doom in his office_ , and so did Nocturne, the Dreamweaver had his arm stretched out to reach for his leg, the soothing aura from it was enough to make him feel sleepy.

Under the ministrations of Pandora and Nocturne's aura, he soon found himself drifting off. He chuckled quietly, he _still_ hadn't moved.

Crimson eyes gently closed.

* * *

 _ **Sch Crsh srch**_

The Time Master stirred.

 _ **Sch Crsh srch**_

Crimson eyes opened slowly.

 _ **Sch Crsh srch**_

Clockwork blinked, the static like sound was annoying him greatly. He'd only been asleep for 10.21 minutes-

 _ **Sch Crsh srch**_

"What in the world?"

The static was familiar but-

Crimson eyes widened.

The Observants!

They were probably trying to get through one of the screens, if they didn't find him in his office, they would look for him in his quarters and that was not a good idea.

Phasing through his friends' hold, he looked around quickly and located his pants, slipping them on quietly, he searched for his tunic but when he found he dropped it right back down, it was *ehem _dirty._

Not even bothering to find anymore clothes he simply locked the door and popped into his office. Once there he quickly arranged the stacks of paperwork and started on one.

About a minute later, two Observants came in.

"Yes?"

"You did not answer Clockwork, so-"

"We took the liberty of entering ourselves"

"Yes well, as you can see, I've been busy doing the scribe work you oh so generously gave me"

The Time Master had his left hand in his hair, giving the illusion that it was mussed up because of stress or annoyance rather than the activities he was apart in not half an hour prior.

"Why are you half dressed?"

The Time Master gave them the most dry look possible.

"Because, it's hot"

"I assume you did not call a meeting in that state?"

"Obviously not, I haven't called them yet either"

The Observants seemed to want to protest bit Clockwork cut them off.

"I'll call them at 4:00 to arrange the meeting for 10am, this way there is likely to be conflict as those times it's cooler and the less heat anyone feels, the better"

The Optical ghosts seemed to agree.

* * *

After finishing six pages the Time Keeper let out a small yawn.

He was tired, really he should have expected it, considering his-erm _activities._ There was also the fact that he only got a total of 20.3 minutes rest and Nocturne's aura was possibly still affecting him.

The Observants there rolled their giant eyes, Clockwork would have probably been surprised if he had not been tired.

"You are aware, that the due date for these is tomorrow, yes?"

"You've made that clear before, and I'm literally finishing it in front of you, what do you want?"

One of the Observant's eye narrowed, it was about to say something when the other one stopped it, by placing it's hand on the other's shoulder.

It huffed but said nothing.

Clockwork failed at stifling another small yawn.

The Observant tried it's best to not comment on The Time Master's unreasonable laziness.

"We have more paperwork, this time it is for The Master of Dreams, we were to ask you to deliver it."

"Put it over there, I'll inform him of it when he comes back"

"He was here, yes?"

"Hmm"

The One eyed ghosts did not like the non answer.

"Is that all you came for?"

"We-"

"Good, now care to leave?"

"Why I nev-"

"Look, with all due respect, it's hot, I'm tired and this paperwork is ridiculous and you two staring over my shoulder is further adding to my annoyances, so it would be best for you to leave"

"How dare-"

The other Observant cut its partner off.

"Very well, but the paperwork must be done by tomorrow"

With that they left.

Clockwork sighed but continued anyway.

* * *

He was about half way through the first stack, out of five, when a pair of arms circled around his bare chest. Fingers lightly brushed against his case, nails gently tracing on the glass, his whole body shivered. He didn't see who it was, of course he didn't need to. The second arms wrapped around him another pair tilted his head and dipped him for a kiss.

The tongue danced with his, it was one he knew well, it had a nagging ability to cur-

 _"Mnh"_

The other chuckled in amusement.

From his position on the chair he really couldn't do much, _except_ take revenge, that was _always_ an option.

"Now, now, that was just to tease you, not to get you started"

Pandora pulled back breathless, running her tongue over her bottom lip, which Clockwork managed to nibble, it gave her a tingling feeling, she liked it, but she wouldn't tell him that, not yet at least.

"That's what you get for being a tease"

"You love me"

"Mm, maybe~"

"Cheeky, are we?"

"Just a little, it's all I can afford with this much paperwork"

"You poor thing"

 _"Pan"_

The Warrior laughed.

"Alright, alright, I'll help, before you pass out on me"

"I did that an a hour and 4.7 minutes ago"

"Yes, you and Nocturne both, can't last long with core play, quite sad", she mocked.

The Temporal Ghost blushed.

"Just because you last two minutes more than my five- S-stop playing with my case, you're not helping"

She pouted. But she didn't stop, instead she pulled him closer. He could feel her, he realized that while she was wearing her black underwear, she lacked a bra and was using her long hair as a substitute.

"Come on now Clockwork dear, what's a little fun?", the whisper was both seductive yet innocent?

Pandora had a weird way of speaking, it probably had to do with the fact that she could and loved to do a lot of things at the same time.

Here she was asking a question and seducing him, _**evil.**_ She became even more evil when she started to nibble on his ears and the lower hands around him trailed slightly lower.

"Come on, we can't leave Nocturne all by himself in there, he'll get lonely"

Her fingers gently made circles on the smooth glass, the others continued trailing lower, and then they pulled back, never reaching, a true tease.

Clockwork was having another internal struggle. His work, over the heat rising in his body.

"Pan, n-no"

She sighed but stopped in an instant. She still wanted the contact though, so she began massaging Clockwork's shoulders.

"When is it due?"

"Tomorrow"

He swallowed, for some reason his throat was dry, his entire body was screaming, he wanted more that a massage.

"Time?"

"Not given"

"Then-"

"I can't put it off, I'm already doing that for the meetings"

"So I did have a meeting with you today"

"You can thank Nocturne for that, because of him I'm moved them up to 10am tomorrow"

The Warrior chuckled.

"That's because he's lazy"

"Can you blame him?"

"Right now, no, as a matter of fact, I wouldn't blame him if he slept from now till 10 tomorrow"

 _"Mnn,_ 'ts what I want to do right now"

Pandora smiled as she worked her way through the tense muscles.

 _"Mhn"_

"Well the faster you finish the faster we can join Nocturne"

"Can't"

"Why?"

"Because he has his o- speak of the devil"

Nocturne popped in the office and sleepily made his way to the two. He kissed Pan, who gladly kissed him back, and ruffled Clockwork's already messed up hair.

"You two left me there"

"Sorry, had to get him"

"Paperwork"

"Didn't I tell you *yawn* that'll help you?"

"Yes, but now you have your own to do"

"Ugh, great, _Scribe work"_

"Hmm, I knew it looked familiar"

Both boys looked at the Warrior.

"There are a total of 20 known scribes for the Observants, you got 5 stacks, he got five stacks and so did I-"

Nocturne's apparent sleepiness disappeared in an instant.

"Were practically doing the work for them, the one eyed assholes could have done this themselves!"

"Calm down Nocturne-"

"I won't calm down Clockwork! We're doing work they can do, I'm tired as hell, you're worse than me and Pan- you were surrounded by papers when I called, you finished yours already, haven't you?"

"Yes I have-"

"Then you're just as tired as we are!"

"Nocturne-

"It's completely unfair!-"

"Nocturne-"

"Not only are they over working us-"

"Nocturne!-"

"It's blatant bullshit-"

Clockwork sighed.

"Pan?"

"On it!"

"I swear-Hmf!...hmn... _**Mhn~"**_

Pandora pulled away from the kiss, but planted a chase one on the Dreamweaver's lips for good measure.

"There, better?"

He pouted.

"You cheat with that tongue thing of yours"

"What, that I can curl it around?", she laughed, "don't worry, it gets Clockwork too!"

"What doesn't get Clockwork?"

"Haha Nocturne"

"What? I speak of nothing but the truth"

"Sure"

"Now boys we need to get these finished, the faster it's done, the better"

The "boys" sighed dejectedly.

"Yes Pan"

* * *

"What's the distance from Viennanié to Tertaįtiul?"

"It's about 17 realms from here each and each realm is 298w66ê apart, multiply it by 2"

"Or you could just triè divided by 3, it saves you time and brain power"

"Gee, thanks Pan, that comment on my stupidity did not go unnoticed"

"I wasn't-"

"It's 18 zeros Nocturne-"

Pandora shot the Time Master an incredulous look.

"Clockwork!"

"What?"

" triè divided by 3 is 20 zeros, 18 is quatiè"

The Temporal Ghost blinked.

Then he put his head on his desk.

 _"Ngh,_ this is why I shouldn't do math when I'm tired, I'll have to start theses papers again"

"Let me see them- no, no, these are right, Ùlterdî is near the keep and Heěópt is its anti, you can still use your 18 zeros and get away with it"

"Thank the Ancients!"

The enthusiasm was expressed by the Time Master waving his index finger in a 'yay' motion as his head was on his desk pillowed by his arms.

Really, he looked like a college student that was about done with life, a fitting description of how tired he was.

"Your worse than a child Clockwork, you only have twenty-three left, the faster you finish the faster you can rest"

"That's easy for you to say, you're literally doing these three at a time"

"Eh what can I say," she smiled and shrugged, "ambidextrousity and multitasking, it's what I do best"

"Yes and talking apparently" piped Nocturne sarcastically.

"Well fine, if you don't want my tongue for talking, you don't get it for anything else hmf!" The warrior huffed as she crossed her arms and pouted.

Clockwork couldn't help but chuckle at the two.

* * *

"And done, finally!"

The Time Master placed his head on the desk table, he could fall asleep right there.

One of Pandora's hands came up to gently rub his shoulders, no he _definitely_ could fall asleep here.

"You finished just in time too, you have five minutes to four, go take a shower then call the meetings ok?"

The Time Master groaned but nodded and slowly dragged himself to the shower.

"Couldn't he just call them at five? It would give him the hour sleep"

"He can't, it has to be four at five everyone gets adgity"

The Dreamweaver shrugged.

"Mm, true"

* * *

4 o'clock on the dot the meeting for the meetings began.

Clockwork had called everyone who he was supposed to meet with, so he was currently staring at about six screens at the same time.

The discussion with having the leader of the ever freezing Farfrozen working with the leader of what Nocturne described as _"the hot as fuck"_ Wastelands, went about as well as you can imagine.

Who would have guessed that the calm and collected Frostbite could curse up a storm, especially at his fiery counterpart.

Calming them down, was fun, hell he had to resort to using "the echo". No he didn't shout, nope not at all, he kept his cool, and really if you didn't know him, which non of them did, he didn't sound mad at all, he didn't look it either.

Calm, cool and collected, the echo however, held an air of authority that shut everyone up.

"Enough, calm yourselves, there is a reason I've called you all"

If Undergrowth and Vortex were going to fight they stopped before they started. Frostbite and Heatstroke apologized instantly, the Amazonian Women stood to attention as did the guardians.

"Good, we started at 4:00 and now it 19 minutes to 5:00, and we've gotten nothing done, I understand that none of you want to work together, with the exceptions of the Warriors, who I do commend on their ability to see peace despite their differences"

The Amazonians and Guardians smiled among themselves, having gotten praise from such a powerful being.

Said being semi glared at the two nature based ghosts and the elemental leaders, all who looked down in shame.

He sighed.

"I'm well aware that none of you want to do this, _I don't want to do this_ ", his tone changed, it was lighter, more jovial? "I _really_ don't want to do this, do I look like a gardener to you?"

There were a few small chuckles.

"I have some potted plants but that's about it, as for the elementals, your names are what might happen to me if I stay too long in either realm"

Those who weren't laughing were smiling.

"As for the Warriors, I will challenge you one of these days, but not after the whole gardening thing, I rather not be turned I to fertilizer"

They all laughed.

"Now, I called this meeting so that we know exactly what we will all be doing, at 10:00 there will be a meeting with the leaders of the two realms that almost collided, because they are of the same elements, Frostbite and Heatstroke will be assigned to speak to the respective realm leader"

The two nodded.

"I will be going along with you, this meeting is to be finished no later than 10:30, now after the meeting, I shall be joining Undergrowth and Vortex in Vegĕtîò to help them with the growth and harvesting"

The other two nodded.

"During this time the Warriors, will be mixed, so guardians and Amazonians will both be in groups, these groups will be split into three, you are going to help seal of the following three realms, entreêálè, ixtreêálè and nostrêálè, those are branching realms, so if you need each other's assistance, you are close, the sealing will be done by moving the rocks from Terraformě through Nesevicta, as soon as the harvesting is done, Nocturne and I will be there to assist you, any questions?"

Heatstroke answered, "I understand why they picked us-", he gestured to himself and Frostbite, "to go, but why you? No offense of course"

Clockwork smirked.

"I am to go with you because, **_I_** was the one who stopped the realms from colliding," Heatstroke gulped, _"oh and no offense taken"_

Vortex snorted.

One of the Guardians stepped up, his Greek armour shining, he stood proud and battle ready just like all the other guardians.

"What of our Leader Pandora? We were told that she had gone to assist you and The Master of Dreams with some tasks"

Clockwork smiled internally, Pandora was clever.

"Yes, they are both still working on the tasks we were given, after this meeting I will be returning to them, Pandora will also be leading you during the sealing process"

The Warriors nodded in succession.

"I have a question Time Master," the tone Undergrowth used was anything if not smug, "I am able to grow the produce for the harvest with the rain, the flying tornado over there gives, but you said it your self, you are no gardener, how will you help?"

Vortex willingly ignored the jab directed at him, he was genuinely curious to hear the Time Master's answer.

"It's quite simple really, I'll be there to assist you in accelerating the growth process"

Vortex blinked.

"Is that legal?"

The Time Master shrugged.

"Usually no, but since when has a realm leader ever been visited by another realm leader of the same element, outside of war or treaty? Or when had passage through any realm for a sealing ritual go on with out any recourse?"

They shrugged.

"Mating season is strange", Shouted one of the Amazonians from the back.

The other's raised a brow.

"I'm actually inclined to agree, the puzzled faces turned to him, "two opposite elementals working together, two of the most clashing aspects of nature doing the same-"

The Warriors waited to see what the Time Keeper would say about them, they weren't disappointed.

"as for the Warriors," he shrugged, "they don't really mind each other, they're doing what they want at this point"

Armour rattled, and a deep echo resounded as they all laughed.

* * *

"There you go Nocturne, your all set"

"Thanks Pan", said The Dreamweaver got up and moved his neck.

 _ **Crack**_

 _ **Crack**_

 _"Nhn,_ I swear, there's nothing like paperwork to give you a pain in the neck"

"Look at the bright side at least your finished, now I can take a shower"

The Dream ghost smirked.

And moved behind the Warrior.

"True, but I like what you have on"

He ran his fingers gently down the sides of her body, causing her to shiver from the contact.

"Nocturne, why are you teasing me?"

The fingers traced lightly, brushing the underside of her breasts but never touching, they went lower to the slight of her stomach only to do the same thing.

It was basically her karma for how she was teasing Clockwork.

"Because, you left me alone in the room"

"S-so did Clockwork"

"I'll get him too~"

They ended up braced against the wall, every few minutes Nocturne would move from kissing her to nipping her neck. His hands kept roaming.

"Mmn , r-really? Alright then, I better get something more than last time"

"You weren't complaining about our hands-"

Her tongue curled around his as one of his hands wrapped around her waist and the other one trailed downwards.

"I'll never complain about your hands, just the fact that you can't last longer than five minutes when it comes to Core play-"

The hand that just reached its destination stopped and Nocturne pulled away blushing.

"You are terrible!"

She smiled and pecked him on the lips.

"Love you too!"

With that she teleported into the bathroom.

Leaving Nocturne alone.

Again.

 _"Paan"_

The Dreamweaver rolled his eyes when she didn't answer, but popped into one of the guest bathrooms and showered anyway.

* * *

They came out of the shower a minute after the meeting was over.

Clockwork reached up and stretched his back cracking in relief.

"So how was the meeting?"

"It took most of the time to calm them down, at 5:15, I actually got to tell them what it was about and we took another 15 minutes to explain their parts in detail, we started at 4:00 and ended a 5:30"

"Ouch", whistled Nocturne.

"So I assume you two finished the paperwork?"

"We did and no wonder you look like your ready to fall over"

"He's been looking like that all week Pan"

"Thanks Nocturne"

"I'm serious Clockwork, you need some sleep"

"I was heading to do that-"

"Sure you were"

Clockwork rolled his eyes, but headed to his room without a word, of course the other two followed.

"You changed the sheets?"

"Well I was the last one in the room"

"I love you right now"

"Love me later, now sleep"

"Fine, Pan-"

"Yes?'

"Can I borrow you?"

"Sure, if wanna deal with the armour"

" 've *yawn* done it before"

With that he was laying in Pandora's lap so she began playing with his hair.

The Guardian chuckled.

"Rubbing your eyes and yawning already? You must be tired"

"I've been*yawn* tired from*yawn* before the meeting"

"You poor thing"

"Hmmn"

"Nocturne?"

"Yes?"

"Why aren't you in bed?"

"I've making sure he falls asleep"

"Staring at me *yawn*won't help, you know"

"No but knocking you out might"

"Don't *yawn* be *yawn* mean"

"Then go to sleep, your yawning at every word"

"Be-*yawn*cause you're doing somthin' to your *yawn* aura"

"Aww, you noticed, now go to sleep"

"Pa*yawn*an, he's cheat-ing"

"Yes, I know, now go to sleep"

" 'kay"

 _Annd_ he was out.

"I'll never understand how you do that"

"It works on you too"

"I know and that bothers me, it's instant sleep, what do you do?!"

Pan chuckled.

"Come'ere"

She patted the space beside her with her free hand, the Dreamweaver complied.

"You still *yawn* haven't told me what *yawn* it was"

"Hmm, later"

"But*yawn* _Paan_ *yawn*"

"I'll tell you later, now go to sleep"

"M'kay"

The warrior smiled, it was a trick her mother used to use on her, to make her fall asleep, it always worked, hell it _still_ worked, the two boys, who were lightly snoring, were the perfect example, brushing away the stray locks from their face, she settled by humming a small tune.

It didn't take her long to feel drowsy, after all she was tired and Nocturne was literally on her side.

"Maybe *yawn* a small nap *yawn* wouldn't hurt."

* * *

The second she closed her eyes and annoying noise greeted her ears.

Clockwork stirred but didn't wake.

Nocturne didn't bother.

Sighing she carefully phased away from the boys, now free she made her way to the screen room.

"Pandora, Keeper of the Box, what are you doing in the Time Citadel?"

When Pan had told Nocturne that she needed to prepare, she prepared, She had two weeks worth of clothes, stuff for her armour and of course more armour. She was ready for anything plus the apocalypse. So when this came up, she replied with out missing a beat.

"I'm here to discuss with Clockwork the details of my task tomorrow, he already called the meeting but I wanted to be extra certain that my guardians won't cause any altercations for anyone else"

"Hmm, where is Clockwork?"

"He is assisting Nocturne with the Scribe work you gave him"

"The Dream Master would have not needed assistance had he not started sooner"

"True, but I was the one who had asked him for a favour, hence the reason he wasn't here"

"Very well, please do inform the both of them that there is a council meeting in five minutes"

Before she could protest the Observant ended the transmission.

 _"Grr,_ honestly this is getting ridiculous, meeting in five minutes? They've only gotten five minutes of sleep!"

Mumbling angry obscenities to herself about the Observants, she climbed the stairs to Clockwork's room only to instantly calm.

With out her presence, the boys curled around each other.

Clockwork was now nestled on Nocturne's chest and the Dreamweaver had one arm around his waist.

It was adorable, too bad Pan had to wake them up.

"Hey, Clockwork, Nocturne, come on, get up"

Nocturne stirred, but he didn't wake.

Clockwork on the other had was trying to wake up.

"Hmm, wha? *yawn* Why?"

"Meeting"

Clockwork groaned and curled himself back onto Nocturne's chest.

Pan rolled her eyes.

"Really? Come on, the meeting starts soon"

 _"Ngh,_ can I skip it?"

"Sorry, you do that and they might come looking for you, and they'll make a scene"

"Fi*yawn*ne"

"Nocturne, wake up!"

"Hmm? Why?"

"Council meeting"

 ** _"Urgh,_** I'm skipping"

"Can't, that's the same thing I wanted to do, but they'll come looking"

 _"Great"_

* * *

The meeting was pointless and long. _It was long and pointless._

It really was as if Clockwork wasted his time with the meeting, the Observants of the Council, went and preached the same shit, of course with it being long winded and pointless.

The meeting went on till its intermission at 10pm, that was the time Nocturne left to do his double rounds. Both Pan and Clockwork felt sorry for the guy.

The meeting resumed at 10:30, so those who were trying not fall asleep, were having an exceptionally hard time.

The meeting continued on till 1:00am for another intermission, that's when Nocturne returned.

Clockwork thought that the poor guy looked pale, or was it him? His eyes were blurry, and they became even more so every time he successfully stifled a yawn.

What happened from 10:30pm to 1:00am? He had no clue, yes he was awake, but he was not _there._

Pan was awake too, but she seemed just as out of it as he did. And Nocturne, he looked the most alert right now, and that was saying something especially given how tired _he_ was.

The intermission this time was only fifteen minutes. So at 1:15 they continued again.

* * *

 _9:30am,_ the meeting was supposed to end at 9:30 _, it did not_.

Looking around there were hardly anyone awake in the council meeting, with the exception of the Observants, the Masters', and the Guardians. There were others like Frostbite and Heatstroke, who refused to give in and fall asleep before the other, Vortex and Undergrowth were having a similar competition and Dorathea was there, valiantly trying to keep her eyes open.

Those who were there weren't awake and those who were awake weren't there, far too exhausted to sleep.

"Now Clockwork, what do you think?"

Said Time Master blinked, he didn't hear anything before that sentence, he didn't fall asleep, he was certain of that, but he did zone out completely somewhere around 8:00am.

"I think it's a bad idea"

The Observants seemed pleased with that answer.

"You think that traveling through Bêrtiįóis a bad idea?" Asked one of the Guardians indignantly.

Oh, so they were the ones talking to the Observants this whole time.

"So you believe that traveling through Yanîsőįé is better?" The Observant seemed smug.

"That's an even worse idea," the Observants smug look dropped, "I'm simply saying that there is a safer and shorter route than either of those realms"

Clockwork's mind was reeling, **Bêrtiįó and Yanîsőįé, Bêrtiįó and Yanîsőįé,** they were both terrible! He needed to find a better realm quick.

"Oh? So what do you suggest, Master of Time?"

 _ **Shiiit**_

"Abejŕîęt!" Exclaimed Pandora.

"She's right, it's between Bêrtiįó and Yanîsőįé, it's safer because it's smaller and hidden by the two". The Dreamweaver smirked as he explained.

 _ **I love you two so much right now.**_

"Exactly, it is also a shorter route through"

The Guardian and Observants blinked, they didn't think of that.

"Very well, because both the Masters' of Time and Dreams and the Guardian Pandora have agreed, there will be a change"

The booming echo of the Observants voices were enough to rouse the sleeping ghosts.

"Instead of travelling to either Bêrtiįó and Yanîsőįé, the realm of Abejŕîęt will now be the gate way"

The ghosts who were awake enough to understand, that they were given a short cut, cheered, the not so awake applauded anyway.

"However-"

The entire crowd groaned in unison.

"There will be more changes, because it is a shorter route more time is saved and with that extra time, more work can be done"...

The meeting didn't finish till 10:00am.

* * *

Of course he had another meeting right after with Frostbite, Heatstroke and the leaders of the Colliding realms.

That went... surprisingly well, Clockwork didn't know if the two were being nice to each other for show or if it was just the exhaustion making them docile, but whatever it was he thanked the Ancients for it.

A new leader was appointed to each of the realms, after all, what kind of leader would willingly lead his people into danger? Mating season or not, that was down right irresponsible on both parts.

That meeting ended at 10:30 flat, the exact time that he popped over to assist Vortex and Under growth. Nocturne was there as well, having just returned from Pandoras', he would help the Guardians again as soon as he finished the harvest.

The Dreamweaver summoned a good 30 of his Sleepwalkers to help. They clawed the ground and spread the seeds, Vortex made it rain. Once the ground was moist enough, the Sleepwalkers covered the seeds and Undergrowth and Clockwork made them grow.

The plant ghost levelled his hands in the air, then he pulled one up above his head, instantly plants came budding out of the ground. He smirked, wanting to see if the Time Master could do better.

Clockwork stood in a similar stance as Undergrowth, hands levelled in the air, the difference was he had is eyes closed, when he opened then, they were blue. A blue aura surrounded most of their small impromptu field and when Clockwork simply turned his palm and made an 'up' motion, plants with produce sprouted from the ground.

The plant ghost stood in a state of shock, the Time Master didn't notice, he simply stood and watched as the Sleepwalkers harvested the crops and the process began again.

Undergrowth who now was severely miffed about being one up'd by a being that couldn't comprehend his children, so he set out to make his produce bigger and better than Clockwork's. But every time he tried the Time Master's one looked better.

That didn't discourage him though, he knew he would win.

* * *

Every time a vine or stem would sprout, he would make his bigger, every Potato or Carrot harvested, he would make his better, of course that's what he tried to do, he still couldn't beat the Time Master.

He refused to give up, he would show him, that no good Master of Time had nothing on his powers. Tall he made it taller, big, he made it bigger! He would not lose and around 12:20 ish, Undergrowth finally won out. His plants were now bigger, thicker and produced more than Clockwork's.

He looked smug ready to rub it into the Time Master's face only to find out that the Temporal ghost was no longer using his powers.

Instead he was watching the Dreamweaver who looked like he would collapse at any second.

The plant ghost had to blink, one moment the Master of Time was next to him, the other he was by the Dream ghost's side, ushering him to sit and rest.

He went closer to see what was wrong. Even Vortex came down from the clouds to see what was wrong.

"Nocturne, you almost collapsed, explain"

The Dreamweaver was clutching his head in a hand, as if he had a headache, _there was no doubt that he didn't._

"Sorry, got dizzy, I'm a bit unbalanced dealing with all of yesterday, and the meeting and my rounds, plus I was helping Pan and the others with about fifty of these guys," he gestured to his Sleepwalkers, "and it looks like I stayed a little too long in the sun"

Clockwork knelt next to him so that they could speak at eye level.

"Why don't you go home and rest? I can cover for you"

Shaking his head, Nocturne stood up.

"I'd rather not, you covering for me here, means _they_ have more work for me some where else, besides after we help Pan, we're finished right?"

"I hope you didn't just jinx it, because I swear, If I have to deal with another meeting, someone or something is going through a blackhole"

They laughed.

* * *

"Alright ladies let's move it! We are warriors if we can't do a simple job like move rocks then what are we?"

"Not worthy, sir!"

"You got that right! Let's go!"

"Da*pant* dammit Pan *pant* slow down, I thi *pant* I think Nocturne passed out back there *pant*"

"Sorry Clocky, this is just the basic training-"

"Woman, I passed basic training with _you and Nocturne,_ hell we passed _advanced,_ this? This is torture"

That brought a laugh to the Warriors.

See after Clockwork and Nocturne finished harvesting as much crops as they could possibly squeeze from the soil, they moved on to help Pan, of course by the time they reached there, the Warriors were almost done and had joined up completely into one big group.

Pandora was leading them all, Guardians and Amazonians alike. In her hands she held three huge boulders and in the last she held a silver sword, one she was using to lead and clear pathways with.

They were currently moving through Nisevicta, carrying large boulders with them. Not only did it look awkward for Clockwork and Nocturne to carry these rocks with them, but it was hot as hell too.

Some of Nocturne's hair slipped from underneath the ram horns causing him to try to blow it away from his face constantly.

Clockwork wanted to do the same thing, his hood had fallen leaving his long hair stick to his face.

But despite, the sweat and his aching muscles he was having fun.

 _"Paaan!"_

"I swear to the Ancients Clockwork, if you don't shut up-"

He instantly bust out laughing.

"Mr. Time Master sir, um your not really that tired right? Um, I mean if you are, I can hold you boulder for you", spoke one of Pandora's youngest Guardians .

She was timid but strong and caring.

"If-if not her s-sir, I can hold it for you" that was the other of Pandora's Guardians, the two were identical but fraternal twins.

They were very protective of each other and were rarely ever apart.

The Time Master chuckled.

"No, don't worry about it, I'm actually not tired, it's just that theatrics boost morale and you've all had a long day, why not a little fun? And besides," he winked, "it annoys Pan"

The twins smiled.

 _"Watch-Paaaan"_

"Clockwork I swear, I will shoot you with one of these rocks!"

The three burst out laughing, the others around them did as well.

Somewhere in the background you could hear muffled shouting.

"Nocturne, you shut up too, your worse than Clockwork!"

The entire group began laughing.

* * *

"I don't know if we made it faster or slower than we should have thanks to our two clowns over here"

"Oh please, we made it fun"

"Yes, fun enough that no one realized we went the wrong way _twice,_ you're welcome Pan"

Pandora rolled her eyes.

"We did not got the wrong way, I rather not have us cross a river with all these rocks, someone slips and falls and someone else's rock splits them open-"

"God you are morbid", cut Nocturne

"You love me"

"Unfortunately", that was Clockwork.

The gathered crowd laughed, they only had one more trip back and they were done, so Pan decided that it would be best for them all to rest a bit now and then complete the trip straight through, everyone else agreed.

"Alright everyone, break times over, I know that you would like to stay a while but it's Nisevicta, the longer you stay the more tired you get"

"Why did they make us come through here anyway?", asked an Amazonian.

They all looked at Clockwork.

"Hey don't look at me, I'm still wondering why we travelled all the way here with these rocks instead of just teleporting it"

"Probably because of the amount of energy it would take", shouted someone from the back.

"You're telling me that us walking all this way with boulders uses less energy than teleportation?"

"Clockwork, if they didn't do the work here, they be doing something worse elsewhere"

"Nocturne's right there Clocky"

"Huh," he shrugged, "well, enjoy your day offs everyone"

They laughed.

"To be Honest Time Master, as to you Master of Dreams, in did not expect you to be fun, more strict and harsh yes, but this task wasn't as bad as I expected and to Pandora, good leading"

"Thank you Azelęă, to hear that coming from the leader of the Amazonian tribe brings me much joy and as for those two, they didn't want to go home, if we kicked them out and they went home they would have paper work to do", Pan smirked as Clockwork tried to hold back his laughter, Nocturne had managed it only slightly better.

"It's true, I _really_ hate paperwork"

"How much paperwork do you have?", quarried the twins.

Nocturne jumped in this time.

"Oh, you know about five stacks each that are half our heights"

 _ **"Ooh!"**_

You could practically everyone's simultaneous winces.

* * *

"Alright, looks like that's all we can do for now, everyone, we'll try to see if we can come back tomorrow and handle the left overs"

The crowd agreed.

"Then that's settled, now lets-"

A portal opened right in front of Pandora. Out of it came an Observant scribe. The scribes were never Observants, just regular ghosts who have been given the title, always dressed in the Observant colours of white green and gold.

"Are you finished here?", he asked.

Pan seemed taken a back.

"For the most part, yes?"

"Good, we have a meeting"

There was chaos in the background.

Cries of "it's unfair"

"I'm tired"

"Let them carry the damn rocks!"

Echoed in the noise.

Clockwork sighed, time to break this up.

"Well at least It's not paperwork"

With that he stepped into the portal.

The crowd grew silent.

"Heh, true"

Now Nocturne went in.

The puzzled crowd turned to Pandora.

She smiled internally and mock whispered, "they weren't kidding about the five stacks", and disappeared along with the other two.

The crowd not wanting to be left behind, followed with out a hitch.

"You boys are quite clever"

Clockwork shrugged.

"Hey psychology has its perks"

* * *

The meeting began and everyone filed in.

Those who were from the meeting before and quite a few new additions. Clockwork would never say it but he was actually surprised to see the three Phantoms.

He completely forgot that today was Monday, and that during sometime at that godforsaken meeting hours prior, he couldn't even say that it ended yesterday, why? Because it ended at 10:00. He had made the requests for the Phantoms to assist anyone they could, up to July.

Daniel and Danielle were assigned to Frostbite after the meeting and Dan was assigned to Heatstroke and Dorathea. They were to help with the repairment of the now dubbed "colliding realms".

The youngest Phantom waved at him, so he smiled back.

While he had forgotten to check on his charges, they seemed fine, albeit tired but quite content.

"We will like to thank each ghost who participated in today's..."

Clockwork tuned out the rest, there were quite a number of ghost present, this was going to be _another long meeting._

* * *

The meeting dragged on and it was nearing night. Which meant that Nocturne would soon have to do his rounds, he dreaded it already. He was tire- no _exhausted._

Looking around the Dreamweaver saw that while everyone was awake, they all had the same expression on their faces, dirt, grime and exhaustion.

Focusing on the Time Master a few feet away, he noticed something odd, his white hair was sticking up at the base of his neck, Clockwork's body was tense and so was Pandora's, not good.

His own body grew tense, he sensed them.

 _ **"Everyone down!"**_ The three bellowed.

The more battle hardy ghosts instantly dove down, the others slowly and questionably ducked down.

Despite the sight slowness it saved them.

A loud rumble sounded and a large jagged portal opened.

What came out of it, cause many to scream.

They looked like Black Mongolian death worms, with rows upon rows sharp razor sharp white teeth.

Their piercing howls caused many of the ghosts to flinch.

Having called the warning, Clockwork, Nocturne and Pandora were ready.

* * *

Pan having already a weapon in hand, wasted no time in slashing the creature in half. It screeched before it disintegrated into nothing more than ectoplasmic smoke, leaving hardly more than a puddle in its wake.

Clockwork had done the same to the others, having turned his staff into a sword, he cut through them with such efficiency that the Warriors, who had stayed down as ordered by the Guardian of the Box, had no doubt that he did in fact pass advance training with Pandora.

Nocturne wasn't idle, having called about 50 of his Sleepwalkers to battle, they fought silently and deadly, their claws easily cleaving the Monstrosities in half.

He didn't stop there taking his own staff from his shadowy cloak and turned it into a sword as well. He commanded a few of his Sleepwalkers to help protect the vulnerable ghosts.

However, he couldn't protect them all, with the strain of the day he could feel himself quickly tiring, but to anyone else it didn't show.

One of the Sleepwalkers stood guard at Frostbite's side, the three Phantoms were next to him, all in shock, both at the Creatures and of the Power and Strength displayed by the fighting three.

Another shock came to them as the Sleepwalker screeched some as it was painful chomped into nonexistence.

Too stunned to move, the large worm came, teeth flashing before the Ice Elemental, snapping to attention by some instinct he quickly pushed the Phantoms down and away, the action had cost him, the worm was only mere inches from his face. He closed his eyes and braced for the pain.

 ** _"Frostbite!"_**

* * *

It never came.

Peeling one eye open, the yeti like ghost turned to see that Clockwork was the one who had prevented his untimely demise.

The Time Master was bracing the creature's teeth with his swords.

One was obviously his staff while the other was made of blue ectoplasmic energy.

"Move!", he hissed.

Frostbite did just that, rushing to the Phantoms' side, just as the ectoplasmic sword broke.

The second the energy made sword broke, Clockwork quickly dropped and slid under the beast. Taking his staff turned sword and slicing the underbelly of creature as he went. It screeched before disintegrating, The Time Master rolled back up to his feet to avoid the liquid that was left of the worm.

Nodding to Frostbite, he jumped back into the fray, leaving the four ghosts very stunned.

Pandora was cutting down 2...3 ...4...5...6 at a time. Having grabbed swords from her guardians, she span around with deadly accuracy, looking like a tornado of gold, blue and pink. It was a move that her mother Dorris' the slayer, the previous Pandora had taught her. She had told her guardians and many of the other ghosts to stay down, they were not used to these creatures, they were far older than them.

None of the older council members were there for the meeting, and she cursed their rotten luck. Of course the Observants were there but they were all but useless.

She continued slashing.

* * *

The trio ended up back to back.

Everyone gasped, as they were seemingly surrounded.

The three seemed to have had a silent conversation before they nodded at each other and charged.

Clockwork went straight for the portal, the other two guarded him, while Nocturne's Sleepwalkers guarded them.

Rushing straight at it, The Time Master moved with blinding speed. Making 12 quick successions. The portal ended up looking like a perfectly cut but fucked up pie.

The portal then broke, sounding much like glass as it shattered and the screeches of the creatures behind it faded.

Nocturne and Pan had finished the last of the beasts, looking no worse for wear, in truth not a scratch was on the two, they were dirty and sore yes, but they were unharmed, so was everyone else it seemed.

The creatures having been destroyed everyone stood up, but no one voiced the question...

Except Danny.

"Clockwork, what in the name of the ghost zone where those things?"

"Well, you are aware of the term 'wormhole' right? What did you think caused them?"

Danny gaped, so did everyone else.

Pandora sighed.

"They are ancient creatures older than all of us, they tend to migrate this time of year"

"Why?", asked Dani. This was the first time she ever met Pandora, she was cool.

Pan smiled at her, but it was Nocturne who answered with a shrug.

"It's mating season, they're ghosts too-"

"I've been here for as long as I remember, and I have seen no head nor hide of these creatures before!" Exclaimed Skulker.

"Good", stated Clockwork matter of factly, "most who see them are caught unprepared and don't live to tell the tale"

The crowd gasped, but the Time Master ignored them.

"They normally migrate out of the visible realms, preferring the darker less inhabited areas-"

"Why were they here? Will they return?"

It was Frostbite who asked the question, having a close call with one of the Creatures had visibly shaken him.

Pandora answered.

"They may return, as Clockwork said they tend to migrate through the less inhabited areas, hence the reason we sealed off -"

"So you knew!" Shouted a ghost at the back.

Pandora glared, not at the ghost but at the Observants.

"No we did not, we assumed that we were sealing the areas of the realms to prevent flooding as they are known for at this time, we were unaware of its true purpose"

All eyes turned to the Observants.

"We could not interfere-"

Clockwork rolled his eyes as he cut in.

"Maybe not but you could have warned us, or better yet not have this meeting at all, it would have put less beings at risk"

The one eyed ghosts said nothing.

* * *

"We need to stop these things before they come back!", shouted one.

"We can't fight those things!", shouted another.

The whole meeting place was in an uproar.

Clockwork sighed, this was getting no where.

"Enough!"

He didn't shout, but he didn't have to, the echo resounded clearly.

Everyone grew quite, expectantly waiting for the Time Keeper to speak.

"I believe I've come up with a plan to rid ourselves of the beasts and save us some work"

The plan was to lure them into one realm and use it as a gateway for the creatures to pass through to their migratory area, this would keep them from the inhabitants of the Ghost Zone for millennia to come, especially if they sealed behind them.

The problem is getting them through.

* * *

"Are you certain this will work?" Asked Skulker.

"Yes", replied Frostbite, "I do not doubt those three"

Clockwork had opened a portal to Nesevicta leaving it open for the others to see.

Pandora was stationed at his right, brandishing swords in all her hands.

Nocturne to his left, having resummoned his Sleepwalkers.

He nodded to them and opened two portals. The first was in front of him, from the angle that they were, all they could see of the realm was that it resembled space.

The second portal Clockwork opened was the one he sealed before, he pointed his staff in its direction as a blue beam of light hit the area and all hell broke loose.

The worms "swarmed' out of the portal rushing into the one the Time Master had opened. But before they could do that, they were slammed into the Cliffside that was behind Nocturne and Pandora.

The Sleepwalkers had pushed them into it while Nocturne and Pandora slashed at them and the cliff with their swords, causing the creatures to move in a 'zig-zag' movement.

Ad the creatures moved they ended up carrying large pieces of rock upon them until the reached the portal and Clockwork, he slashed them with his left hand, while keeping the portal open with his right.

The rocks on their back fell off as they were slashed into the portal.

This had happened for a full two hours, but no one really noticed the time, far too concerned with the amount of worms coming from the portal.

The worms stopped and the Portal Clockwork was holding opened closed. All the rocks that the worms moved were piled near the rocks the Warriors had moved earlier in the day.

It now looked like a solid dam made completely out of rocks. The sealing was complete.

Clockwork was asked prior if the rocks would truly stop the creatures from returning.

 _ **"While you can teleport from in front of a door to a room, you can't teleport from one side of a cliff to another, it simply didn't work that way"**_

The same applied to worms, while they could go through the portal, the rock damn would prevent them from returning, for quite awhile.

Now that they had finished with the portal, they were about to jump back out of Nesevicta when a loud rumbling caused everyone to looked up.

The head of a very large worm poked out of the portal the others came through, everyone went pale, the its head was the size of the portal, imagine the size of its body!

No one moved too stunned at the sheer size of the beast as it slowly wriggled it's way out of the portal.

Clockwork was having non of it, he gestured to the ghosts underneath the massive beast to move, they did so with out protest, only a few Stubborn Observants, did not listen, the Time Master payed them no mind.

Instead he stretched out his left hand, taking control of the portal.

He tried to squeeze it shut, a motion noted by the way his hand tried to clench in to a fist. For every time the worm wiggled the hand seemed to opened.

Clockwork fought it back, desperately trying to close the portal shut. Whilst he had his hand out stretched, Pandora and Nocturne had their bodies braced against his, offering him full support.

The giant beast screamed as the hand was closer to clenching closed, it wiggled and thrashed wildly, but Clockwork did not waver.

After what seemed like the most gruelling minutes of everyone's afterlife, the hand finally closed.

With the hand closed, the portal shut and it cleaved the worm clean. As the head and quarter of the body fell, Clockwork sagged but his friends were there to hold him upright.

The worm disintegrated, like the others, but before it touched the floating ground however, the liquid that accompanied the death of the worm, fell right on top of the few stubborn Observants that didn't move when told.

The second the liquid touched them they melted into liquid goop themselves.

Humorously enough, a janitor ghost from seemingly out of nowhere came and moped up the goop and disappeared as abruptly as he came.

Everyone stood gaping.

Clockwork sighed and shook his head.

"I've learned not to question it", he said as he and his friends stepped out of Nesevicta and the portal closed behind them.

As the touched ground the Twins cheered, causing the rest of the guardians to cheer, the Amazonians joined in and soon everyone was cheering.

* * *

"But hold up"

All eyes turn to the Halfa as he looked to Clockwork.

"Couldn't you see this coming?"

"I can not see my own timeline Daniel"

"Ok, but you could have looked into anyone else's here and saw this right?"

"Yes, I could have, but unfortunately some beings saw fit to make me play gardener"

The deadpanned face and he monotone just made the sarcastic remark even funnier.

"Worry not Time Master, your produce has spread to my Kingdom and threw out many other realms, we are truly thankful"

"Then you are very welcome Dorathea, but I rather not do that again, after the first few Corn and Carrots, I thought to myself, I am _never_ becoming a vegetarian"

They all laughed.

* * *

The laughter was cut short.

"Clockwork your arm!"

Clockwork's right arm had a pretty deep gash in it, as a matter of fact it just looked down right painful. Everyone simply assumed that he was left handed as he carried his staff in that hand, now they knew why.

"Calm yourself Danielle, it will heal"

"You got that after saving Frostbite didn't you?"

He nodded.

The Ice Elemental winced.

Pandora then came up behind him, taking her sword, she cut a decent piece of his cloak and used it to bandage his arm with.

"Ow!" he winced.

"Calm yourself Clockwork, it will heal", mocked the warrior.

The Time Master could only sigh and roll his eyes.

"Be glad you don't have friends like these", he said to the little Phantom.

"Yes my dear niece, do not have friends that will care for you as his does"

The girl giggled.

"Niece?" Asked Pandora with a small smile.

"Yup, I'm Nocturne's adopted niece"

"Oh, well then that makes me your adopted aunt, of course since _he is my best friend"_

Dani beamed.

"I have an a warrior for and aunt! How cool is that? She even has an army!"

The guardians who came up to them smiled at the child's excitement.

"That also means that Daniel is my adopted nephew, isn't that right?"

Danny smiled at Pan, she reached out and hugged him.

"Dan, get over here"

Said Phantom grumbled but to everyone's surprise except the warrior's, he stood beside her, where she promptly enveloped him into the hug as well.

She now had all three Phantoms in her arms and was smiling brightly.

The younger two laughed while Dan coloured slightly.

Clockwork rolled his eyes.

"Did you just really adopt my charges?"

"Yep!"

The Time Master sighed.

"Hey as your friends, this is perfectly legal"

"Nocturne, not you too"

"Too late"

Clockwork rolled his eyes once more, but you could see the smile on his face.

* * *

The smile was instantly wiped off as the meeting continued.

The simultaneous groans from the crowd did nothing to deter the Observants.

"Er-Time Master"

"Yes?"

"Are you sure you do not require medical aid? I would be happy to take you to the FarFrozen-"

"Thank you Frostbite, but that will not be necessary"

The leader of the FarFrozen frowned but respectfully said nothing.

The meeting dragged on.

It was 8pm now, everyone was tired, the stress and strain of the day did not help one bit.

Nocturne was nodding off where he stood, his rounds would start soon, but he was having trouble keeping his eyes open.

Having summoned so many of his Sleepwalkers in so little time, with little to no rest, was really taking a toll on him.

Clockwork noticed, he tapped his friend's arm lightly when his eyes slipped closed. They opened blearily and the Time Master could only give him a sad smile, to which the Dreamweaver returned.

Pan wasn't feeling as well as she would like to admit, before going to the citadel, she had indeed been immersed in paperwork and prior to that she was out with her guardians aiding the Amazonians in fending off savage intruders, it was the sole reason that they were now able to work well with each other today.

She was exhausted and sore, but looking to her left, the boys looked worse, Clockwork was in pain, that was obvious, well to her, to anyone else he hid it well, Nocturne looked ready to pass out.

His eyes kept slipping shut only for him to jerk them back open again. Sighing she switched places with Clockwork, smoothly and quietly, she brought absolutely no attention to herself and if she did no one cared.

Now between them, she pulled both boys closer so that they could lean on her, they did so with no protest and that worried her. Usually they would rolled their eyes or comment on her mothering, but here they were with out a bit of argument.

Nocturne, truly grateful for his friends right now, lead heavily on Pan, but she didn't so mug as budge, she carried heavier and she's been more exhausted before, or so she told herself.

Because he was standing, not so much as leaning, his body became partially lax, and his eyes were closing faster than he could reopen them.

Pan noticed and phased the rest of his hair from under his horns. The Dreamweaver slowly realized why, his hair would cover his face just enough so that one wouldn't notice he was asleep, especially since his leaning, didn't seem like leaning at all.

Looking to the side both Pan and Clockwork gave him a small smile, which he returned before his eyes closed on their own, he didn't have the strength to open them.

* * *

Of course He had to, especially when the Observants announced with booming voices that he would be excused to carry out his rounds.

He jerked awake slightly, though his body didn't jump visibly, he simply nodded and moved to leave.

A second of sleep, that _had_ to be a record.

Clockwork sighed Nocturne didn't get a break. He watched as his turned to leave only to have Pan stop him.

"Wait!" She bellowed, her voice carrying through to everyone, successfully rousing those who had fallen asleep.

"I have a declaration, I know what we've been doing has worked and is helping us reduce set backs immensely, but it is also costing us, I mean we're deader on our feet than we should be"

That brought out some tired chuckles.

"I propose we set up shifts, this way it will be easier on everyone, depending on how big your shift is, determines whether you are to do two or only one, for every shift, depending once more on the size, should determine the length of rest you get, from three days to a week, and those who pick a shift are responsible for it and if they can't make it, they must make sure that someone is notified so a replacement can be found, all agree?"

No one said anything.

"I said **ALL** _**AGREE?"**_

The echo in her voice was far more terrifying than that of her male counterparts, no she didn't shout as a matter of fact she had a sweet smile on her face, it made the ordeal all more spine tingling.

"Agreed", they shouted.

She smiled sweetly at the Observants, the one eyed ghosts seemed to pale.

"Since it is unanimous, it must be confirmed and as such I'll take the first shift"

The Observants nodded.

"I'll take the second", sighed Nocturne.

"And I'll take the third", that was Clockwork.

Pan gave the two a slight glare, that's not what she wanted, she wanted them to rest, while she took the first shift, they could have done any other one the next day.

They glared back, knowing that Pan would push herself for their sake.

"I'll take the fourth!"

"I'll take the fifth!"

"Sixth!"

Apparently the crowd was inspired by them, all three looked exhausted, but yet they took up the first three shifts to allow them some rest, they would help with all they could.

No one had seen the little glare off.

"The first three shifts are the only shifts for today, tomorrow will be shifts 4 to..."

Once more the three glared at each other, they didn't care what the Observants had to say.

They each wanted the other two to rest, but they were getting nowhere like this.

Pan sighed.

"Alright, you two we'll take the three shifts together, we'll finish faster and it'll be easier together"

The two nodded, seemed fair enough.

* * *

"Shower and Bed, the both of you"

They were going to protest, but face and voice were stern.

"Now"

They grumbled but headed for the shower.

Pan sighed as she rested against the wall, finishing the sealing for three realms with only two people, who were both as tired as she was, not to mention in a fast pace was a hell of a toll, she had sped them up, with good reason, either of them were likely to pass out .

Taking a breath she did not need, she wobbled to her feet and went for a shower herself.

Finishing she found Clockwork asleep on his bed, his arm bandaged with actual bandages.

"Nocturne must have done it for him", she thought. Reaching up to remove some hair from his face, she frowned when she realized that Time Master had a fever.

Easily removing his tunic and moving his hair from his face, Pan headed for the kitchen to get a cloth and cold water.

She found Nocturne sitting on the couch, battling with his eyelids.

"Noccy, why don't you sleep?"

"Can't ...rounds"

"Don't think you can right now, you can make it up another time, sleep"

He shook his head.

"No...they-they're gonna call-"

"Nocc-"

" 'f not me... Clockwork.. he's not... he's not feeling well-"

At this point the Dreamweaver was drifting in and out of consciousness, he refused, to sleep.

"I know, he has a fever and by the looks of it so do you"

Placing a hand on his head confirmed it. Frowning, she decided to try something.

"Noccy, I need to check, OK? "

He had no idea what she was talking about, but he trusted her.

" 'kay"

She placed her hand on his chest, right were his core would be...

If he reacted in pain, core exhaustion would be definite.

No reaction. She sighed in relief.

His eyes were slipping shut.

"I'm going to help Clockwork OK? I'll come back for you in a bit"

" 'k"

The warrior moved quickly, getting the container of water and two cloths.

She placed one on Nocturne's head, before teleporting to Clockwork's room and placed the cooled cloth on his head.

The Time Keeper likely had an infection from the wound. Pan was going to remove the bandaged to check, but when she touched them, they were moist with ointment, by the smell, she knew which one.

Smiling softly at Nocturne's thoughtfulness, she made sure that Clockwork was comfortable, before going to retrieve the Dreamweaver.

She had just reached when she heard an Observant on the timescreen scolding Nocturne.

"Why haven't you started your rounds?"

The Dreamweaver was trying his hardest to push him self from the couch, removing the cloth he shakily stood up.

"They are many ghosts complaining and yet you are being lazy"

" 'm movin' aren't I?"

His voice was mumbled and laced with exhaustion, but the Observant only heard the comment.

Angry, it was about to say something but was cut off, when Pan entered.

"Nocturne! What are you doing?"

"T-told you they'll call"

She shot a glare at the Observant, it shrank back.

"Noccy, come on, you need sleep"

"He needs to work-"

"You need to shut up! Can't you see he is not wel- **Nocturne!"**

His body finally gave out and the Dream ghost slipped into unconsciousness.

His horns falling off his head, leaving long black locks spread down his pale but flushed face.

Pandora had managed to catch him before he fell, and wasted no time in placing him on the couch. Finding the cloth, thankful it was still cold, placed it back on his forehead.

Turning her fright into anger, she lashed out at the Observant, she now knew exactly why her friend was like this.

"Do you see what you have done?"

"I have done nothing, I do not interfe-'

"Yes you do, that's _all_ you ever do, interfering with our after lives! Nocturne does not have to do his rounds for the zone every day, yet you've been pushing him since the beginning of June, not only that, but he had no chance of rest-"

"He could easily feed off-"

"He can't feed off Dreams during mating season, it would only serve to make him hot and bothered, he hasn't slept, nor fed and is pushed into constant work, and you will tell me this is not your fault? It is no wonder he and Clockwork have fallen ill"

"Clockwork is Ill as well?"

"Yes", she hissed.

"For Masters' the show far too much weakness"

"How dare you-"

"I meant no offense to you, after all you are a 'Master' yourself, but you have proven stronger than them both"

"Shut up! Don't you dare speak of them that way ever, do not show your face here, you or your brethren for an entire three weeks or I swear it by the Box that I guard, _ **You. Will. Pay**_."

With that threat she ended the transmission, picked Nocturne up and carried him onto Clockwork's bed.

Where she tended to their fevers till day.

* * *

Because they were ghosts and because Pan gave them some fever reducing herbs that she had brought with her, yes she was prepared for that too, the Masters' fever broke some time at around dawn

Deciding that because the fevers had broken, it would be easier to tend to them on the bed, she crawled carefully in-between them.

It was easier to tend to them both this way, until of course she fell asleep.

Around 6am, Clockwork awoke to Nocturne's groaning, he was trying to wake himself, when he finally managed to open his eyes, he ended up looking directly into Clockwork's, he offered a sleepy smile and the Time Master gave one back.

Looking up they both smiled to see that the sleeping Pan held them close, even in deep slumber.

Clockwork placed his good hand on her head, relieved to find no fever, he did the same to Nocturne, only to receive the same result, of course, Nocturne checked him, _just because_.

The small movement cause Pandora to wake, she had them sit up slightly to check for their fevers, smiling when she realized that they were 'fine'.

Both of them settled back curling onto Pandora as she draped her arms over the two.

And once more all three lay asleep.

* * *

 **AN:/ And that's it, hope you all enjoyed the 65 pages because i was two lazy to turn this into a two-parter. You may have noticed, I'm now trying to update every Wednesday, having a deadline makes it easier for me to get motivated to write and you guys know when to expect it. So Wednesday at 9:00/8:00pm central.**

 **I think that's all with Pan for awhile well, this and the next chapter. Don't worry she'll be back, eventually, but we gotta focus on our other main characters, right? There was a question as to how and why Dan was let out of the thermos. I'll be working on that, it'll be called "Out". The thing is, I wanted to explain that for Hunger so I'll delay this one a bit, I'll take any other requests or questions in the mean time.**

 **So because of that, I got two question's for you guys. Which character from the series do you want me to write about? And who do you want them to correspond to?**

 **But anyway you guys know the drill, send me your requests, and I'll write 'em, ask me your questions and I'll answer them, send me your reviews and I'll smile like the little nut I am.**

 **Love yall ^-^**


	18. Sick bay

**AN/: Hey guys, I'm back, so sorry for the delay, there was a death in the family and that messed me up a bit and to top it off I failed Chem, so now I gotta stay another year in college, but my friends helped me through and convinced me to keep writing. I know the last chapter was insanely long and I wasn't really lazy it just wouldn't cut.**

 **Anyway Enjoy and Review**

 **DISCLAIMER: I do not own Danny Phantom**

* * *

 **Sick bay**

Core exhaustion was a funny thing, sometimes it was excruciating pain and at others a mere annoyance. But the one thing that pisses off everyone, is the fact that it can be so fickle with its formation.

You can check the core the day prior and nothing will look amiss but come the next day and boom, you have a fever that can rival the Wastelands.

And of course that's exactly what happened to Clockwork and Nocturne.

* * *

" _Paan_!"

"What?!", came the cry from somewhere outside the room.

"Nocturne's hugging me!"

"Nocturne, stop _hugging_ Clockwork!"

"But I'm _**coooold**_!"

"And I'm melting, let me go!"

The Time Master kicked the offending ball of heat off him and non too gently-

"Oof- _Paan_ , he kicked me!"

"Clockwork!"

"He was hugging me, he's trying to suffocate me!"

"I was not, I'm just cold!"

"Well you certainly do not feel cold!"

"But you do-"

"I'm practically melting-"

"Clockwork you're _**not**_ ice and Nocturne you can hug me when I get there, now for the love of the Zone, both of you shut up and go to sleep!"

" 'Kay"

...

" _Pann_ , he's hugging me!"

* * *

Two hours, it took _**two damn** **hours**_ to get them to sleep. It was funny really, the two where so similar and yet so _**very**_ different, one of their odd differences was how they dealt with being sick.

While they were good enough patients alone, together was another story. See when Nocturne has a fever he gets chills, and his skin feels cold, well only to him, in reality, he's practically a burning furnace.

Clockwork on the other hand, hates anything near him that's called heat, he actively avoids it even though his skin is ice cold, so you can imagine the stress they gave Pan.

Now that both her "patients" were asleep, she could get back to work.

And that she did.

* * *

"How many in that sector?"

"About 80 ma'am"

"Good and what of-"

" Also 80 ma'am"

Pandora shook her head fondly at the twins.

"Honestly you two, always one step ahead, did you -"

"Check Avrîél? ", supplied the boy with a coy smile.

"Yes, yes we did," said his sister with an equally coy smile

Pan rolled her eyes.

"I rest my case"

"Good, then maybe-"

"You should get some rest-"

"You both know I can't do that-"

"But-"

"No buts!" The pink haired ghosts sighed, "Look, when everything is settled and the other two feel better, then, I will rest, ok?"

The twins weren't happy but they bowed their heads in understanding. Their leader was brave, strong and kind, it is no wonder that she is respected among many.

"We understand ma'am"

"Thank you, now-"

"Were heading to Saeùm"

The Guardian of the Box blinked.

"What?"

"Were going there so you don't have to"

"No"

"But-"

"You've already done 2 shifts"

The twins smiled.

"We can handle another one"

"But-"

"No buts!"

They cut Pandora right off, smiling as they did so, there was always something so _uplifting_ about using one's own words against them.

The four armed ghost sighed once more, seeing that the twins had made up their mind's she already knew that they wouldn't be swayed, "fine, but I don't want you two overworking yourselves, I've already got two children with core exhaustion I don't need two more"

The young guardians smiled and gave their leader a mock salute, "yes ma'am".

The transmission then ended.

Pan rolled her crimson eyes, she could swear sometime those two were like her own children-

" _ **Paaaan**_!"

Speaking of, she had two other children to attend to.

* * *

"A-a-a-achoo!"

"Bless you!"

"Thans Squirt", sniffed Dan.

"So what happened next?"

"Well all of this did, happen week ago, it's a bit hard to remember Danielle"

"Pfft, you forgetting anything? That's hard to believe"

Clockwork glared at the youngest's Original.

"Well you try remembering what happens to you when you have a high fever and the entire room is cruel enough to keep spinning at 30mph"

Danny couldn't help but laugh, the Time Master had his hands crossed and his face bore a petulant pout.

Clockwork rolled his eyes, honestly what would he do with his charges? Correction his quote on quote "sick and dying charges".

A mere 2 hours ago the med wing of the Citadel was empty, Clockwork was resting on the couch while Nocturne was in the back room with Pan.

"I wonder how she's doing? And what is taking Nocturne so lo- speak of the devil"

"She's doing better, she's asleep now, _buuut_ she's going to end me when she wakes"

"Sedative in the tea?"

"Sedative in the tea"

The statement was confirmed with a nod and a seat of the Dreamweaver near him.

"Hmm"

It took a second before Nocturne realized that Clockwork's shoulders were shaking.

"Stop laughing, I had too, she wouldn't sleep otherwise and I wouldn't risk dusting her right now"

The Time Master calmed his silent laughter- eh somewhat.

"You wouldn't risk dusting her, yet you would place a sedative in her tea? Pfft, call me from the other side"

And... he broke into laughter.

" _ **Clockwooork**_ , help me!"

"Fine, fine, I'll help calm her down so she won't destroy you when she wakes, well _at least not completely"_

"Thanks", deadpanned the Dreamweaver.

"You're *yawn* very welcome", The Temporal ghost's voice was laced with sarcasm, of course that was ruined by the impromptu yawn.

" _Oh? Is the wittle tym master tired?_ "

Said being rolled his eyes at his friend's failed attempt at baby talk, but decided to humour him anyway.

"As a matter of fact yes, yes he is, I've just finished our paperwork for the week we * _ **yawn**_ * missed"

"Wait, you did mine too?"

"Yes-"

"Why?"

"You were taking care of Pan, it's the * _ **yawn**_ * least I could do"

"Thanks"

Clockwork waved him off with a hand and a yawn.

" 'm heading to b-"

 **CRASH**!

"-ed"

* * *

"Are you all alright?"

"Does it look like we're alright, you starry assed asshole?"

Dan's statement would have been a threat if it weren't for him sniffling every odd second.

Nocturne saw fit to mock the large Phantom for his nasally sound and his over all bad attitude.

"Oh you poor thing"

"Can it horn for brains"

"Mm what? Sorry I can't hear you over the sound of your sniffles"

"Fu-"

"Now, now, you're the only one conscious and I need to know what happened to the other two"

"Don' know actually, we all just ended up feeling like utter crap this morning"

"This morning? Why didn't you-"

"It took us this long to get here", frowned Dan matter of factly.

"Hmm, come on", said Nocturne slinging the Phantom's arm over his shoulder, and proceeding in taking him in an unfamiliar direction.

"Wha? Where are we going?"

"To the med wing"

"The wha?"

"Med wing"

* * *

The Med Wing was large and set up like a mini hospital, equipped with beds, ectopic IV's and even a defibrillator, well it looked like a defibrillator to Dan.

But then again the edges of his vision were going black, probably because his hair was drooping into his eyes, but what did he know.

 _Oh, would you look at that, the room decided to bow before him._

Nocturne who was still helping Dan move strained under the additional weight.

"Dammit Dan!"

* * *

"Ughh, what hit me?! Asked a groggy Danny.

"Probably me I think"

Looking to the side of his hospital bed, the poor Phantom could barely make out a small black and white figure.

"Dani?"

"Yo"

The mini Phantom gave a small off wave, before quickly slapping her hand to her face.

"You ok? "

"Mhm, just my head decided to try splitting, where are we anyway?"

"In the Med wing of my Citadel"

"Clockwork?"

"The one and only Daniel"

"What happened?"

"That's what I would like to ask you"

"Um, I have no clue Clocky, wait, where's Dan?"

"He's right here dear"

All three ghosts turned to see Nocturne on their left pull back the separating curtain to reveal a snoring Dan.

They couldn't help but chuckle.

The large ghost's hair was not aflame and was quite long covering his shoulders.

It was quite obvious that he was sick, from the _paler_ _than_ _at usual_ skin tone to the stuffy snores and of course the overall miserable expression- well more that average "Dan miserable".

The younger Phantom's weren't fairing any better, they looked just like- _if not worse_ , than Dan.

"So, care to explain why you three came crashing into the Citadel?"

"Well uh, you see uncle Noccy, none of us felt very good this m-"

"Yes, yes I'm aware of that, Dan here gave me the same story before he decided to pass out"

The Dreamweaver punctuated his irritation with a jab of his thumb and a roll of his eyes.

The poor Phantoms' looked utterly confused.

Clockwork sighed.

"He means what happened or what have you been doing before you all fell sick?"

"Oh, we were helping Frostbite and He-Heatstroke, that's his name right?"

"Yes Danielle that is his name, but from my knowledge you two", he stopped and motioned to the prone Phantoms on the bed, "were supposed to be working with Frostbite and Dan over there with Heatstroke, other than the meeting, at what point did you all meet?"

"At this weird bridge like place", piped Danny, "Heatstroke is a pretty nice guy once you get to know him, Dora was there too so that was fun"

"Bridge you say, Nocturne?"

"It's-"

" **Theoitcennoc** "

"The what?!"

Just like the Masters', the Phantoms' were simultaneous.

"It literally means "The connection"

"The connection of what Nocturne?"

" 'sn't it obvious kid? It's you said it yourself it's a bridge, to the FarFrozen and the Wasteland, don't ask me why the fuck it's there, but it's there"

"Well, look who's awake", smirked Clockwork.

"Can it Oldman"

"Now Dan-"

"You too, you starry assed asshole"

"Hmf, and after I carried you to bed when you decided to faint-"

"I did not fain-"

"Yes Dan, yes you did, it was quite amusing to see Nocturne lift you though, you are twice his size"

Said Phantom deadpanned.

"Gee thanks Clockwork"

"But what does the bridge place have to do with any- any- _achoo_! ugh-thing?"

Dani's sneeze caused her to float up and almost away if it weren't for Clockwork who had gentle grabbed her leg to pull her down.

"Bless you!"

 **"*sniff*** Thanks guys"

"To answer your question dear, it depends on what you were doing"

"You mean us helping with the supplies?" Asked a slightly puzzled Danny

"Not really much of an explanation there Phantom", commented Nocturne

"Well shouldn't you know?"

Dan's questions was obviously pointed towards Clockwork.

"I-I haven't been working much or at all this past week, but if I put the pieces together, you've been at the 'bridge' up and down for the past week to dimensions of either or opposite of your core type, it's quite obvious what happened"

The room was quite for a moment, three confused as hell Phantoms and a mulling Nocturne.

"Inverse?"

"Exactly"

"What are you two talking about?"

"It's an inverse reaction of core types Daniel, in other words the back and forth between the realms was not supposed to happen, as cold cores you and Danielle were to stay with Frostbite, and Dan with Heatstroke as well as Dorathea-"

"Which means?"

"Which means that hot and cold don't mix, so you got sick, _ **end of story**_ "

Clockwork practically pouted.

"Thanks Nocturne"

That brought a smile to the young Phantoms.

"Hey Clockwork-

"Yes Danielle?"

"So why weren't you working this week?"

Before the Time Master could answer Nocturne cut him off.

"Core exhaustion"

"Again?!" The two Phantoms exclaimed.

Clockwork ignored them, opting to chew out his friend.

"Hey, yours was worse than mine"

"My fever didn't last as long"

"At least I could move"

"Hey I could've-"

"Wait the both of you were sick? Who took care of you?"

The Masters' looked at each other before looking at the children.

" **Pan** "

* * *

"So auntie Pan's here?"

"She's in the backroom"

"Will she be ok?"

"She's fine, it's only a minor case"

"Where the hell did the asshole go?"

"Nocturne? He's in the kitchen, I told him to bake some cookies for Pan"

"Why? Is it because he put stuff in her tea?"

"Exactly that reason my dear"

"What are you doing Clockwork?"

"What does it look like I'm doing Daniel? I'm monitoring your core conditions, usually a ghost with a cold core in a hot realm for and extended period of time, tends to leave some damage"

Danny gulped.

"Wh-what about me?"

"I've checked you already Danielle, you're fine, and by default you being younger and far more susceptible to the opposite element, Daniel and Dan should be fine aswell-"

"Then why are you checking?"

"Because I want to make sure, and I'm waiting for Nocturne to bring the cookies up, I'm hungry"

"Pft, Really Clocky? "

"Yes really Danielle"

"Well here he comes, hey, make sure I get some you asshat"

"Are you really going to resort to name calling all day Dan? It's quite pitiful"

"Fuck you Nocturne"

"Oh you actually used my name, maybe I _should_ give you some of these cookies"

"You better", mumbled Dan under his breath.

"What was that?"

"Nothing"

* * *

"So how long have you been Dating auntie Pan?"

The question came so out of the blue that Clockwork nearly choked on one of his cookies.

"What?!"

"You heard Dani , how long?"

"That's-

"Come on Oldman, we already know you're a kinky bastard, so tell us-"

"Long enough you three"

The four ghosts looked towards the door to see Pandora walking in. She was wearing only her underwear and one of Clockwork's shirts.

Her long hair covered what was necessary but you could still see her toned stomach from the rectangular hole.

She marched up staight to Clockwork.

"How you feeling Pan?"

"Better, was eating cookies but-"

"But?"

"They're done and I still want some"

"Then tell Noc-"

"I did, he's baking them but they just went in, it'll be a while"

"Sad"

"Mhm"

Pan wasn't really listening instead her focus was on the last cookie in Clockwork's hand.

"I have a question for you Clock"

"Oh? And what's that?"

Without warning the Pink haired ghost grabbed him and locked him into an impressive kiss.

Dan whistled and Dani cheered as Danny payed her five bucks.

"P-pan the kids!"

"They know"

And with that she pulled him into an even deeper kiss. With the surprising intensity and the fact that Pan wasn't at all at her full strength, the two ended up toppling over.

But even on the ground Pan was relentless.

The Phantom's where hollering in the background. And after a few seconds Pan pulled away to leave a dazed and Purple face Clockwork half splayed on the floor.

She got up winked at Clockwork, highfived Dan, ruffled Dani and Danny's hair before leaving the room.

A blink passed before the Clockwork on the floor spoke.

He was still very much purple when he turned to the Phantoms.

"She stole my cookie"

* * *

 **AN:/ And that's it, hope you all enjoyed it. A special thanks to Poly and Kimera for keeping me going.**

 **And this was requested by GhostWolf19**

 **But anyway you guys know the drill, send me your requests, and I'll write 'em, ask me your questions and I'll answer them, send me your reviews and I'll smile like the little nut I am.**

 **Love yall ^-^**


	19. Don't Touch

**A** **N/: Hey guys, I'm back, so sorry for not updating yesterday, we had a cat 5 hurricane that I had to spend the night through, it was hell man. But anyway, this is for Mama Ishi, who may need this because a 10 hour shift is absolutely no fun. So now have 10 pieces to hopefully make up for 10 hours.**

 **Anyway Enjoy and Review**

 **DISCLAIMER: I do not own Danny Phantom**

 **/**

 **Don't** **touch**

1\. Screens.

It was just floating there, the power and thrum of the Staff was practically calling him.

It's owner was non the wiser, busy staring at the screens in front of him, while the alluring power of his staff stayed beside him loyal, _like a dog._

 _ **He wouldn't notice would he? No not If he was quick right? Oh why the hell did he care? He was the ravager of worlds, he took what he wanted.**_

And so Dan Phantom stretched his jumpsuit clad hand out, making sure to look cautiously at Clockwork to avoid getting caught, not at because he was afraid of what the other ghost might do, not at all.

Just as his fingers ghosted over the staff...

"Don't touch my Staff Dan"

So concentrated he was on his task, to retrieve his prize, he had tuned out his surroundings.

The large Phantom visibly jumped and to this day he would avidly protest that he did _**not**_ scream.

Clockwork simply chuckled and went on watching his screens, Staff right by his side and an embarrassed and blushing Dan as well.

/

2\. Newspaper.

It was odd, very odd, well it was more domestic if anything, but still, it was odd.

He watched as Clockwork, The All Powerful Master of Time, sat down and ate his bowl of cereal while reading a Newspaper.

His Staff floating behind him, it still reminded Dan of a dog, _too_ _loyal_.

He knew that it was rare for Ghosts to eat, especially the ticking bastard, but when he did eat it was always something sweet, the guy had a hell of a sweet tooth, hmm, maybe he could bribe the Time Master with that information?

He'll store that away for later, but for now, the Staff.

Fingers stretched, almost-

"Dan don't touch my Staff"

The Paradox quickly withdrew his hand, as if to pretend to keep the innocence that both knew he didn't have.

Clockwork chuckled and ate another spoon full of his likely sweet as fuck cereal.

/

3\. Shower.

He could hear the water flowing, that was good, it gave him time to find what he was looking for.

Yes he was determined to find it, he looked all around, the screen room, the kitchen- hey you never know, the living room, and now, here he was in Clockwork's room.

Under the bed? **No**.

The dresser? **No**.

The bed itself? **No**.

 _ **Where the fuck was the Goddamn Staff?**_

The water turned off- _**shit**_.

He needed to move, the Oldman was done with his shower, fuck where was it?

The door opened- time's up.

Clockwork stepped into his room half dressed and towelling his long white hair.

His staff- _ **are you fucking kidding me?!**_ -was behind him floating around, seemingly pleased to have followed its Master.

Having finished with his hair, the Temporal ghost quickly put on his tunic and cloak, but opted to leave the hood down for his hair to dry further.

With that the Time Master left his room, leaving an invisible and seething Dan behind.

 _ **The fucking staff was in the**_ _**showe**_ _ **r!**_

/

4\. Doubt

 _Left._

 _Right._

 _Left._

 _Right._

 _Left..._

Dan watched semi amused as The Time Master kept switching screens, seemingly confused by something.

 _Left._

 _Right._

The Time Master scowled.

The two branching timeliness were too similar, so much so _**he**_ was actually having trouble identifying which was which.

 _Left._

 _Right._

He grit his teeth.

 _Left._

 _Right._

His teeth turned fangs.

 _Left._

 _Right._

 _Left._

 _ **Grr, this is ridiculous! How could he not see it?**_

"What's wrong there Clocky?"

The Time Master didn't reply. Instead he opted to growl at his own incompetence in silence.

Dan smirked. In his doubt and frustration Clockwork ended up letting go of his staff. It like many times before simply floated at his side.

The paradox's prize was now before him, slowly he crawled down from the beam he was laying on.

It was amusing to see Clockwork silently seething, _who knew he had fangs?_

 _Left._

 _Right._

Dan chuckled, he could hear the silent growling coming from the other ghost.

 _Left._

 _Right._

Fingers stretching, almost-

"Don't touch the staff"

Dan pulled back instantly.

"Shit!"

/

5\. Hair.

If he thought breakfast was odd this was _just_ _as_ odd, giving up with the twin timelines the Time ghost opted to comb his hair, yeah, his hair. Man it was soft? Er well it looked soft.

Clockwork sat on the couch in the screen room combing put his semi dry hair. His staff, for once not floating, but laying on his lap.

Back on the beam Dan watched as the temporal ghost rhythmically drew the comb in strokes.

Up.

 _ **Crsh**_

Down.

Up.

 _ **Crsh**_.

Down.

Stop.

Huh, strange, in the few minutes he had gotten used to the sound of the comb in hair.

"Want me to do yours Dan?"

"Tch, fuck off Oldman"

"Your loss"

Up.

 _ **Crsh**_.

Down.

Up.

 _ **Crsh**_.

Down.

Dan resettled himself onto the beam, content with the rhythmic sound, his prize was unattainable for the moment, but he'll get it eventually.

/

6\. Care (for some cookies?).

The Phantom didn't remember falling asleep, but he did wake up to a wonderful scent and another od- oh wait it's paperwork, _**nothing**_ odd about it.

There on the coffee table near the couch were stacks of Clockwork's paperwork. Said Time Master however was no where .

Crawling down from the beam- _because he can and he oh so loved his cat like ability to do so_ \- he followed the tantalizing scent that had woken him up in the first place.

He followed the scent all the way to the kitchen to see Clockwork munching on some chocolate chip cookies- god this fucker and his sweet tooth.

"Hello Dan"

"Yo", nodded the Phantom in acknowledgement, "did you eat the whole tray?"

The Temporal ghost rolled his eyes, "no Dan, the rest is in the container"

Shrugging the flame haired ghost reached for a medium sized container that was behind the Time ghost, he easily pulled out four cookies.

 _ **CRUNCH**_

"So, what happened to work?"

Clockwork shrugged, letting go of his staff in favor of a cookie.

"Got tired, needed a break so I made something I could snack on"

His prize was ready for the taking, floating near the cookies he could easily take hold of it by simply pretending to reach for a cookie.

Time for bait.

"You tired? That's a fluke"

Once more the Time Master shrugged.

"It happens"

"Hnn"

Reaching now, he didn't even need to look at Clockwork, it seemed obvious what he wanted.

A little past the cookies- almost there...

"Dan, don't touch my staff"

Said Phantom retracted his hand, only stopping to snag a cookie, which he bit into while pouting.

The Time ghost said nothing else, happily sating his sweet tooth by munching on a cookie.

/

7\. Desk.

Back on the beam in the screen room, Dan lazily watched Clockwork writing below him on stacks of paper, while eating a cookie.

The Phantom held the container of goods hugged snugly to his chest, he had to admit the Oldman could bake.

Nonchalantly munching loudly on his cookies, he was surprised that he heard it. Even as small as it was, well his ears weren't pointed for nothing.

Clockwork had failed to stifle a small yawn and Dan was somewhat intrigued to see if he would fall asleep right there.

It certainly looked like it, the Time Master now held his head in his hand as he sifted through the papers.

Soon enough another small yawn escaped, and his eye lids drooped.

As tired as he looked he was still far from sleep and even further from finishing his work.

Dan watched silently, like a hunter that found its prey, his prey in question decided to keep working.

The staff that Dan so greatly prized was no where to be seen, but the Phantom was confident, his prize would turn up soon enough.

/

8\. Dance.

It was like a dance, the papers fluttering up only to land neatly in another stack.

It seems like Clockwork was quite the one for showing off, regardless if he meant to or not.

The Time Master would write something on the papers, double check them then pull them into a stack with his telekinesis, it was far more entertaining than it sounded.

As the papers went up they would circle each other as if organizing themselves, then gently flutter down.

Dan had lost track of how many of the 'dancing papers' he'd seen, actually he only realized that he did not count when the papers had stopped.

Not seeing any papers fluttering up and around each other, Dan give a curious glance to the Time ghost below him.

Clockwork had stopped using his powers, seemingly too tired, he currently had less than a stack left but he was rubbing his eyes and yawning.

Sighing, he leaned his head on his hand and continued working.

Dan waited eagerly to see if the papers would flutter up again, he was quite disappointed to see that it was not the case.

He wasn't bored for long though, Clockwork seemed to have found something relevant because in mere seconds he was on the couch to his screens, not like it was far away but still.

He went back to the previous two screens, the one on the left and on the right, those of which Dan knew the Oldman had a hard time finding something on.

 _ **Looks like he found it.**_

The Temporal Ghost looked up at the two screens, then back at two papers he held in his hands, with his hands full the Staff could finally be seen floating beside it's Master- as usual.

The Paradox watched as Clockwork smirked, transferred the papers into one hand and manipulated the screens with the other.

His hand and eyes were glowing blue and with a flash of light, Dan saw everything ...

 _And_ nothing at all, the images moved far to fast for him to keep up, especially if he didn't want a headache.

Blinking back his eyesight, the Phantom almost gave himself a whip lash when he realized that Clockwork was now once again seated at his impromptu desk.

The staff stayed floating by his side, good, his prize was still yet to be won

/

9\. Desk part 2.

It was highly unusual for Dan to wait for anything, especially if it was something _**he**_ _**wanted**_. But this time he found his amusement in waiting.

The prize he was waiting for would be an easy grab and an even better one if the owner of said prize, would hurry up and fall asleep.

The Time Master in question was fighting a battle with his eyelids, his head was still propped up by his hand, but he was literally nodding off it as he wrote.

The longer he fought, the lower he slipped, into sleep and off his hand.

Dan had to applaud the poor guy, he was obviously tired but yet fought it enough to keep working.

After about three or four more papers, however, sleep started to win, the pen he was holding stopped moving and slowly slipped out of the exhausted blue fingers.

Crimson eyes closed completely, before snapping open and closing again, this repeated only twice before Clockwork gave up and succumbed to the sleep his body desperately wanted.

Dan watched, a small smirk at his lips, as the tired ghost folded his arms for a make shift pillow. Shoulder length hair cascaded around his face like a white curtain.

The second Clockwork put his head down, whatever tie he had in his hair gave way, so his now loose locks decided to play in the forever unexplainable wind that resided in the tower sometimes.

The Phantom stared intrigued at the wind that blew at Clockwork's hair, the locks would either curl or straighten out depending on which way the wind decided to blow.

Dan was tempted to wake the older ghost and ask if he had a bleached octopus on his head, but he decided not to, _**he did want his prize after all,**_ it was still floating, albeit lower, by the Time Master's side.

If he could wait long enough, the prize would be his, no questions asked.

/

.

Patience was a virtue and it was one he did not have nor want to posses, but for the sake of power, he choose to adopt its practice but for only this day .

Heave- Hell knows that this will probably be the longest Dan has ever and will ever wait for something, **might as well be this right?**

Floating down- he didn't even bother crawling, he gently landed beside the sleeping Time Master.

He was so quiet that he could hear the light snoring of the older ghost, hell he could hear the ticking of his core, or at least he thought is was, _**fuck it they're too many damn clocks in here how the hell is he supposed to know?**_

Clockwork was still asleep, good, time to get his prize. Reaching out with his telekinetic ability he brought the staff closer to himself, he wouldn't risk waking the other on his afterlife, he didn't know why he didn't think of using telekinesis sooner, but oh well he got what he wanted, dismissing his power he reached for the staff, fingers ghosting over- he looked over at Clockwork- he was still asleep _**good**_.

With no one to stop him Dan quickly grasped the staff, smirking with his success.

His smirk then faded.

And he screamed...

/

Slowly blinking into consciousness the Phantom groaned in pain, even more so when he felt that center of that pain being prodded.

"Oh hush now, you brought this on yourself, the entire day I've told you not to touch it, but what do you do? You go and touch my staff, so now you're here _congratulations_ "

Now that things were slightly in focus he could see the full extent of damage he caused, his scream had turned into his ghostly wail, majority of the Citadel was in utter ruin.

 **Shiiit**.

Trying to avoid looking at the mess he made, more so to avoid apologizing, he turned to ask Clockwork, who was bandaging his arm, what the hell happened?

"Your Staff-"

"You want to know why it hurt you?"

Dan could only nod dumbly.

"It because you are a temporal paradox, the staff just like its Master, destroys paradoxes, _it is our_ _ **job**_ _after all "_

"Then why did it call me?"

"Simple, to kill you-"

"What?!"

"You thought it was the prey hmm? Turns out it was the hunter being hunted-"

"That thing just tried to end me!-"

" I kept warning you not to touch it, and even if you could what possible reason could you need it for?"

"I-"

" You wouldn't be able to use it on anything or anyone, and that certainly includes me, do you really think that my own staff, **The Staff of Time** could be used against _**The Master of Time?"**_

"I-"

Dan cut himself off this time, he couldn't answer and that left him even more angry and embarrassed.

"I can clean the mess"

That's as close an apology anyone can get from The Dan Phantom, but Clockwork simply shrugged and snapped his fingers.

Everything seemed to pick itself back up in reverse, soon enough they were standing in a perfectly unblemished Citadel, Dan couldn't help but gape.

Clockwork looked down at his embarrassed 'ex-captive' and chuckled.

"Honestly Dan, you can be such a child"

Dan's cheeks colored green.

"Hmf, says the one who fell asleep instead of finishing his work"

Now it was Clockwork's turn to blush, it was light but the purple was still visible.

"First off, I was tired and still am by the way, secondly, I finished my work before I fell asleep _thank you very much_ , I was simply debating whether I should deliver the paperwork to the Observants "

"And?".

"And that would have required moving, which I _really_ did _**not**_ want to do"

"Pft, you just decided to say fuck it and sleep huh? Eh I can respect that-"

"Good, because I'm going right back to sleep, and I'd rather not be woken up again because _**yo**_ _ **u decided to touch**_ something"

"Have you no faith in me?"

Clockwork gave him a look.

"Fair enough"

 **/**

 **AN:/ And that's it, hope you all enjoyed it. A special thanks to Poly for their wonderful artwork that will forever be my icon.**

 **Hope you like it Ishi. ^-^'**

 **But anyway you guys know the drill, send me your requests, and I'll write 'em, ask me your questions and I'll answer them, send me your reviews and I'll smile like the little nut I am.**

 **Love yall ^-^**


	20. Scorpions

**AN/: Hey guys, I'm back, so sorry for not updating yesterday, went shopping for school supplies last minute, was hell man. College starts Monday and I still have to go clean my apartment from the Hurricane prior, wish me luck.**

 **Anyway Enjoy and Review**

 **DISCLAIMER: I do not own Danny Phantom**

* * *

 **Scorpions**

Scorpions weren't common in the ghost zone- actually they were, you just don't see them much.

They were like the spiders, they'd just eat the mosquitoes and other pests, you leave them alone and they would leave you alone. It was a non spoken and quite peaceful arrangement.

Living in the many floating rocks of the zone they would seem quite harmless and hardly worth the time of day, right?

Wrong.

Though they wouldn't bother- they being other ghosts- the term "bother" had a very different meaning to the Scorpions.

Oh did I mention the fuckers are poisonous?

* * *

"Arck!" Cried the large creature as it hit the large rocky surface.

" _ **Godfuckingdammit**_! I'm going to kill that shape shifting grape! When I'm done with him he'll-"

Dan's monolog was cut off when a very large scorpion crawled onto his chest.

The black insect raised his stinger.

And the one thing on Dan's mind was

"Fuck".

* * *

The stinger came down and Dan bit back a curse.

It was just not his day, first the little imp of a child Dani somehow swindled him out of fifty bucks for candy and games, then he and his younger self end up in a shouting match.

The match of course ended up a battle between two Ghostly wails and it destroyed the main wall of the Citadel.

Clockwork punished the two for said wall, when the Phantoms rebuilt the goddamn wall, Danny quickly apologized.

The purple cloaked Time Ghost gave him leiway and he left. Since Dan didn't apologize, he ended up having to do errands in other realms and dimensions for the "lazy ticking bastard".

That's actually how he ended up in his current situation.

When the portal to the ghost zone opened it practically spit the flame haired Phantom onto the floating rocky surface below.

* * *

His eyes were burning, his ectoplasm felt like it was replaced by acid. And of course the sky decided to be an asshole and dance in a freaking circle.

Trying to get up after blasting the offending little fucker off his chest? Bad idea.

The darkness closed in faster than he could say "shit."

"Honestly, a scorpion? The most destructive ghost in the Zone next to Pariah, downed by a tiny insect, oh if they knew it were so easy, but then again, the bigger they think they are, the harder they seem to fall, _hmm_ Phantom?"

A blue portal opened and the prone Phantom was brought into the Citadel.

* * *

Clockwork was laughing.

Not chuckling, no, the fucker was actually _laughing_.

"Yeah, yeah laugh it up Oldman"

The offending ghost finally seemed to calm himself.

"Still, this little creature?"

The Time Master held what looked like the very creature that got him into this mess.

"Get that shit away from me Clockwork!"

"Hmm, I think I'll keep it"

"I hope it stings you"

"It wont"

And true to his word the insect seem quite docile in the gloved hand of the Temporal ghost.

* * *

Dan grumbled, not only did he not like being confined to the stupid hospital esc bed in the Citadel's medwing, but the fact that he was "defeated" by an insect, in his defence it was a pretty big scorpion but it was still an insect.

And fucking Clockwork was still playing with the damn thing!

"Hope it fucking stings you", mumbled the butthurt Phantom, with his arms crossed.

"What was that?"

The Time ghost had a very smug look on his face, the Phantom could only roll his eyes and turn on his side, might as well get some sleep.

Clockwork then got up to check on the IV, which was green with ectoplasm rather than saline.

Wait, there were only two ghosts in the Citadel, which means that was Clockwork's ectoplasm being fed to him.

"Great", groaned Dan internally.

When the Time ghost finished fiddling with the IV he went back to sit down, Dan could care less, his eyes remained closed.

"Ouch!"

His eyes snapped open.

"Ha! Told you it would sting you!"

"It didn't I just cut my self on something"

"Yeah right"

He showed the Phantom his finger and just as he had said ectoplasm was dripping out of it, the scorpion remained perched on his shoulder like a concerned bird.

"Whatever!"

With that Dan went back to sleep.

Clockwork exited the room...

 _ **Laughing.**_

* * *

"Um Clockwork?"

"Yes Danielle?"

"Am I high off candy or is that a scorpion on your head?"

"You've eaten quite an amount of sugar, but yes there is a scorpion on my head, she's my new pet"

"Cool, what's her name?"

"Hmm, I'm not sure, would you like to give her one?"

The poor child must have really been on a sugar rush.

"Sheryl, Sheryl the scorpion"

"Sheryl it is then"

The scorpion seemed to agree.

Somewhere in the background Dan was screaming in anger.

* * *

 **AN:/ And that's it, hope you all enjoyed it** **.**

 **Kimera I promise I'll do your request, just been busy with Moni and her sons. Poly I'm working on yours so don't worry you two.**

 **But anyway you guys know the drill, send me your requests, and I'll write 'em, ask me your questions and I'll answer them, send me your reviews and I'll smile like the little nut I am.**

 **Love yall ^-^**


	21. Scared

**AN/: Hey guys, I'm back, so sorry for not updating for so long, college you know? And I also just came out of the hospital like hour and a half ago, I should be sleeping but nah, long story short, got pepper in my food, this child can _not_ do pepper, throat closed up and got dragged to the hospital, woke up too early apearantly and practically choked on the breathing tubes and oxygen mask, yeah that was _fun. My life man._**

 **Anyway Enjoy and Review**

 **DISCLAIMER: I do not own Danny Phantom**

* * *

 **Scared part 1**

She hated it, _**she hated it so much,** _ always, _always_ , they were always so mean, just because they were _bigger_ , because they were adults.

She already had guardians, she didn't need these people, she wanted so badly to just phase through these boring white walls but for some reason her powers weren't working.

So here Danielle 'Dani' Phantom, stuck in some stupid place, it was a "place for ratty children like her" according to the big burly cigar smelling dude that brought her here.

The man was huge and strong, so much so that he had left quite the bruise on her arm.

She couldn't remember what had happened before mister "stinky giant" dragged her to this hellhole, her powers weren't working for some reason.

She was scared

* * *

"You can't do this"

"Yes we can, it is in our right-"

"You have _**no**_ _**right**_ , she's my charge, my re-"

"Your responsibility Clockwork? What a shame, if this is how you handle your responsibilities then no wonder the Observants detest you"

The Time Master growled in resigned anger, he kept his composition at least but his fangs were beginning to show.

"I detest them as well but they've known that for eons, you however are quite _new_ , it would be a shame if something were to happen to a _young_ _**scribe**_ like you", Clockwork was now smirking and the pointed tips of his pearly whites showed clearly.

The scribe gulped, he was expecting an angry outburst not a soul shaking threat, what's worse were the fact that his teeth extended with the smirk, the addition of fangs to the mix made this all the more dangerous. Who would have thought he'd be so protective of a clone?

"F-fine Time Master, but my orders are orders, I will complete my task-"

"And I will make sure that if you _**dare**_ , you'll regret it for every _**second**_ of your afterlife"

The scribe wasted no time in teleporting away.

With the nuisance gone, the Time Keeper sighed to calm himself as he watched his youngest charge breakdown, the child was lost, alone and scared and he could do nothing but stare.

"I'm so sorry child"

* * *

She didn't know what happened, one minute she was sitting down, laughing and eating with the group and the next she was on the ground gasping for breath. Her chest _**hurt, breathing hurt, everything hurt!**_ She couldn't, see or hear- no, she could hear, but she'd rather not. The hot white noise was too much, too much _ **, too much.**_

"Dani!"

 _"Dani!"_

"Breathe, you're gonna be ok"

She couldn't tell who was talking, multiple voices among the noise, she still couldn't breathe, _**she couldn't breathe!**_

Looking up was a bad idea, even if it was a brief moment to see who was hugging her.

She looked up because that person was crying.

She looked up and the sky crashed _**down.**_

The young Phantom had heard someone scream for her but that was the last thing she remembered.

* * *

Jolting from her impromptu flashback the girl clutched her head.

 _ **Just how did she get here anyway?**_

 **And where in the world _was_ here?**

 ** _Why was she here?_**

 **Where were her friends- _no her family?_**

 ** _What happened to her powers?_**

All these thoughts raced through her mind...

As tears raced down her face.

* * *

 **AN:/ Ok guys yeah this one was short but hey atleast I'm writing again, right?**

 **So if you're still with me here, give me your guesses on were Dani is and what happened.**

 **Poly and Kimera, my phone broke (so I'm currently using my tablet) it had like half of each of your requests, he'll it had bits of the collab me and moni were working on, so bare with me here, I gotta restart stuffs, sorry :(**

 **But anyway you guys know the drill, send me your requests, and I'll write 'em, ask me your questions and I'll answer them, send me your reviews and I'll smile like the little nut I am.**

 **Love yall ^-^**


	22. Distractions pt2

**AN/: Hey guys, I'm back, so sorry for the lack of updates but don't worry, I've been writing during that time, I got a lot of requests from some really cool friends of mine so get ready for weekly updates, I've got six down so far, 'update bomb' as me an poly call it, so no more delay with my ranting.**

 **Enjoy and Review**

 **DISCLAIMER: I do not own Danny Phantom**

* * *

 **Distractions pt2: Teeth**

Every ghost has an additional two things to their powers, Claws and Fangs. Now just as there are different types of ghosts, there are different types of Claws and Fangs. They both Claws _and_ Fangs fall in to the same two categories however, one ghost can have one type Claws and the other type of Fangs.

The Retractable and the Imbedded.

The Imbedded as they are so aptly dubbed, have permanent Claws or Fangs, their Claws are extremely solid and rather sharp and their Fangs can possibly bite through human steal, _possibly_.

The Imbedded types are more common, their Claws are always noticeable, but they have managed a way to conceal their fangs, but that's optional of course, not all ghost do this, some just like it for the intimidation factor.

As mentioned a Ghost can have either of or both types, and imbedded can have permanent Claws and retractable Fangs, or permanent Fangs with retractable Claws. The thing with this now was that while Imbedded types were durable, if they were to break, _for whatever reason,_ the ghost would be in immense pain. Their Claws or Fangs would take months ranging to years to reform, most choose to fade away rather than bear the pain.

The Retractable, these Ghost are rare, especially if they have both of their attributes in this type. They can retract both their Fangs and their Claws and keep them dormant for however long they'd like. Most true Retractable types are quite reserved ghosts, they keep to themselves most of the time and hardly ever show their Claws or Fangs. Obviously to get those Claws, out you anger them, _please do not do this,_ same with the Fangs. But there's an easier, _and much safer,_ way to see them.

Those with Retractable Fangs are notorious for their Sweet-tooths, it's quite amusing to see the Fangs slowly appear while said ghost is distracted by their sugary confection and even more so their blush of embarrassment when they realized their control slipped. For some reason it takes a good minute or two to retract their traitorous Fangs after they have eaten something sweet.

For their Claws, as weird as it seems, any coarse material would work, like sand paper or a nail file, the sound their Claws make on the material amuses them, scratching lightly on the material till said material tears, quite cat-like don't you think?

There are some pros and cons to this however, being Retractable, their Claws and or Fangs are not as strong as the Imbedded types, they're still strong don't get me wrong, just not _as_ strong. But unlike the Imbedded types, if broken they can grow back instantly, something akin to Shark's teeth.

The second its broken another is there to take its place, of course it hurts like hell and the ghost's own energy is drained for the instantaneous repair, but hey at least they can still defend themselves if push comes to shove.

Now you may be thinking, _"oh the Retractable types have it easy"_ , _**you couldn't be more wrong.**_

Because their Fangs and Claws can be lost and regained at any moment, those with retractable Fangs go through " **Teething** ", yes, yes, like that of a human baby, though, it's not quite similar. During "Teething" the afflicted ghost will be highly uncomfortable and in borderline pain. Both the upper and lower Fangs will be replaced and made stronger, depending on the strength and power level of the ghost there are two ways "Teething" occurs.

If the ghost is at a low level, the old Fangs simply fall off, and the new ones _**slowly**_ ¸ appear and with it brings pain, itchiness and generally uncomfortableness for the poor ghost. Now if the ghost is of a higher calibre of power then the old Fangs do not fall off, _though they are shaky,_ until the new ones have fully formed and push the old ones off, of course it hurts like a bitch.

For Claws now, "Unsheathing" occurs a week after "Teething", usually the ghost afflicted will usually spend their time biting their nails, this is of course their claws in its dormant form, it's an impulsive action but the nail biting continues until the center of the nail is reached, _then_ , the new Claws appear.

During these times the ghosts are generally grumpy or in childlike agony, of course today happened to be "Teething Week" and Clockwork just happened to be of the true retractable type.

* * *

"Hey come on, you need to go"

" 'm not goin' "

"Clockwork be reasonable-"

" _Nooooo"_

"Really? Whining? Really? How so very mature of you-"

" 'm one uf theh younges membrs uf theh council, I cn be imatur if I wan to"

Nocturne rolled his eyes.

"Nice English there Clock-"

"Fef you!"

"No, No there won't be any 'fefing' anytime soon", chuckled the Dreamweaver.

Clockwork growled, or he tried to, it ended up a pained whine.

"You do know that they won't care that this hurts you right? The council still wants you at the meeting-"

"I noh lie twelf membrs tha aren goin' caus uf this"

"You poor things-"

"Stahp bein mean"

"Alright, alright, I'll 'stahp' ", the Dream ghost chuckled at his poor friend's suffering English and his suffering in general.

Another pained whine escaped the Time Master.

"You know, it would be easier, for you if you weren't buried under all those couch cushions-"

"Hnn"

"I'm serious Clock-"

" 'm comftable, jus urts"

"How the hell are you even comfortable under there? Hell your English isn't comfortable down there-"

" _Hnn"_

Sighing, Nocturne conceded, "Fine, I'll get you some ice"

Turning from the Purple couch that was in the Screen room, he heard Clockwork mumble something from under the six couch cushions he was hiding under, shaking his head he ignored the Time ghost, he probably wouldn't understand the other's impaired speech from this distance anyway.

After getting what he needed, the Dreamweaver quickly returned to Clockwork's side and sat on the couch beside him, only to hear more pained whining.

"Oh jeez, it's not that bad, sit up I got the ice"

The aforementioned Time Master emerged from under the cushions, his hair was frayed and tossed up in different directions, his cheeks seemed slightly swollen and just by the look in his eyes it was obvious he was in pain.

He said his thanks as he pressed the ice bags to his swollen cheeks.

"I'm literally five seconds from asking you to knock me out right now, it-"

"Wow, that's got to hurt like hell for you to actually as me to put you to sleep"

Clockwork gave a small nod in reply and flopped back down on the couch, pillows having been launched into the air, landed back softly and burying his legs, he kept his face turned to the side laying one cheek on the ice while he held the other bag to the one.

"Aww, poor thing"

The Time Master still did not answer instead he closed his eyes, another whine escaped him as pain radiated in shockwaves from his teeth.

Sighing, Nocturne reached out to smooth the frayed white locks, "If it's hurting you that badly, I can put you to sleep ok?"

He cracked open a crimson eye and gave a small pained nod.

The Dream Master placed his index and middle finger gently on the Temporal ghost's forehead, but before he could do anything, he caught a flash of Orange and white from out the corner of his eye.

"Hey, all your adopted children are coming here"

Quickly sitting up to see that indeed six 'children' were coming to the Citadel, at this Clockwork groaned.

"Why is it that every time something happens to me, they always appear?"

Nocturne, who was still staring at the Time Screen shrugged, "well you're the one who adopted them all, besides, it's Jasmine who's driving, which means Dan did something.

Once more Clockwork groaned and flopped back down, the pillow then buried him completely like they did before, he really didn't want to deal with the six right now.

"So, are you going to hide in your room?"

"Tha woud requir mofment"

"You could teleport"

"Tha woud require consntration"

"Yes, and I would require English"

"Stahp ih"

"Get up from under there then, is this how you're going to greet them?"

"lie theyl kare?"

Nocturne shrugged, "True"

* * *

" _Soo_ ", started Danny, "what's wrong with him?"

Clockwork was still very much under the cushions.

The Dreamweaver gave a casual shrug, "Oh him? He's teething"

"Hah, you got some ice under there Clocky?"

"Leave him alone Dan"

The Phantom grinned, it was wide enough to put a certain cat to shame.

"Not on your after-life you starry assed bastard, I can actually tease the Oldman about this, though I have to admit, I didn't think he had this type, I just though he hid them well-"

"Wait, ok hold up, what's going on? What do you mean by teething? Did like his teeth fall and new ones are growing?"

The young Phantom's question was cut off by Clockwork himself.

The Time Master had sat up rapidly, startling most of his guests.

"Do you honestly think me that weak?"

No one payed attention to his question, rather their eyes were on his appearance.

Dishevelled white locks frayed all about, his slightly swollen mouth and the overall look of misery were etched upon a pale blue face.

Huffing the Temporal ghost crossed his arms and rolled his eyes.

Dani blinked.

"Um, what did you mean by that Clock?"

He opend his mouth to answer but Nocturne beat him to it.

"You asked if his teeth fell before new ones would grow, that only happens to ghosts with his Fang type that are at a low level-"

"Ok, so what happens to him since he's a high level?"

This was asked by Tucker, he and the other two humans had remained quiet ever since they'd stepped foot into the Citadel, of course it was just like the Techno geek to pick the most in opportune times to ask a stupid question.

"I was getting to that, boy, as I was saying, high level ghosts like him keep their fangs till the new one is fully formed, then the old ones are just pushed out and off"

"So like a shark?" asked Sam.

"Well, in a way", shrugged the Dreamweaver, he'd been doing that quite often today.

Jazz still hadn't spoken, but no one payed the red head any mind.

"Can we see it Clock?"

"Really Danielle?"

The young clone nodded and Clockwork couldn't find it in himself to deny her at the moment.

He opened his mouth in what looked like a sarcastic smile and from there, everyone could see the pearly white teeth and of course the Fangs, the gums around them were quite swollen and the Fangs themselves looked a bit shaky.

Having grown tired of them ogling at him The Time Keeper closed his mouth with a frown, well he tried, he ended up wincing in pain.

He received some pitying glances and a mock wince from Dan, Jazz and Nocturne had disappeared, but no one seemed to notice.

"Should we expect these Three to start teething soon?"

"Not necessarily Samantha-"

" _ **Sam"**_

"As I was saying Samantha", the Goth girl rolled her eyes, but her lipped quirked a little bit, "not necessarily, it depends on what type of Claws and Fangs they gain-"

"Mine are Permanent, so I don't have to worry about pointless shit like teething-"

"True, but your Claws are retractable, so next week-"

"You know, talking makes things worse, we don't you take a bag of ice and _stuff in in your goddamn mouth?!_ "

The Phantom growled and Clockwork couldn't help but chuckle.

* * *

By the time Clockwork finished explaining to the children, and a sulking Dan, the dynamics of Claw and Fang type, Jazz and Nocturne returned.

"So you two finally finished whatever it is you were making?"

"How did you-"

"I've been smelling something sweet for about an hour-"

Nocturne rolled his eyes, muttering something about a " _damn sweet-tooth"_

Jazz brought out a tray that she'd been hiding behind her back.

On the tray were little yellow lemon squares, well they looked like Lemon squares.

"It's my mom's special recipe, it's got citrus and buttermilk, soft to help with your teeth and it tastes good too-"

"Sure Jazz, I can taste the diabetes from here, how much sugar did you put in that thing?!"

"Well _Dan"_ , huffed the elder Fenton, "I didn't put any sugar in it, _that_ was Nocturne's job"

The Dreamweaver only shrugged.

* * *

After everyone got two squares each, small talk about 'who did what' and 'why they were at the Citadel in the first place', commenced.

Until of course they were interrupted.

"So Dan lifted him up by the shirt", Dani's hands were outstretched giving further emphasis on her story, "and he was about to-"

 _ **CRRSH**_

"Clockwork! This is what you are doing instead of going to the council meeting?!" The Observant's voice rang out shrill and angry. "You know very well what communicating with those who are within a timeline cause, but bringing _Humans_ to your lair?"

All the aforementioned humans stood up with an offended "HEY!"

While the Humans and the others argued, Clockwork remained seated, gritting his teeth and growling slightly, he was trying his very best to keep control of himself, but the Observant was getting on his nerves.

"Grr- _ **CRRCK!**_ "

All sound stopped.

Jazz, Sam and Dani who were cut off in mid argue, turned to Clockwork, as a matter of fact all eyes and er _eye_ locked on to the Time Master.

The ghost was wide eyed and had a hand clamped firmly around his mouth, a generous amount of ectoplasm dribbled down the gloved appendage. Standing up the Temporal ghost hastily removed himself from the room.

Nocturne winced, "This is going to hurt him like hell", shaking his head the Dreamweaver teleported, presumably to help Clockwork.

With the two Master's gone, the others turned to the sole Observant, _murder was in their eyes_.

To this day that observant learned not only to fear the Phantoms, but the three humans aswell.

* * *

"Do you think he'll be ok?"

"He'll be fine squirt, even if they broke, his fangs would grow out instantly", he gave the girl a steady look, but in a blink his demeanour changed and he shrugged casually, " _buut_ he was teething so, they could be sensitive for a while"

"What's that got to do with anything Dan?"

"Yeah dude, Danny's got a point"

Sam and Jazz both rolled their eyes and the boys, but it was the Fenton girl who spoke first.

"It means that if he bites anything too hard, it _will_ cause him pain"

Seeing that both the males were clueless Sam stepped in.

"What did he tell you happens after a week of teething?" The Goth had her hands crossed, an intimidating Sam pose with the classic Sam glare, not a good thing to be under.

"Uh-um the Claw thing?" Stuttered out the Techno geek.

"Exactly!" The shout was joined in by Jazz, Dani and Dan.

Danny winced.

Clockwork and Nocturne came back down a few minutes later, Clockwork's hair was combed neatly behind his back and his glove and tunic were clean.

Seeing as how everyone was staring at him like they did before, he showed them his new Fangs, while his gums still looked a bit swollen, it had gone down considerably, the new Fangs themselves were bright and _sharp_ , they were much larger than the previous ones.

He received a few whistles and appreciative nods.

"So how sensitive are they?"

"Not much Dan-"

"Still sucks to be you next week"

"You're one to talk-"

"At least I'm not the one with sensitive teeth-"

"True, but I hardly need to worry about that come next week-"

"Oh and why's that Oldman?"

"Because unlike you, I have a nail-file"

This threw the large phantom off and he stood there making a quite accurate description of a gapping fish.

"Thank god we don't have to worry about that till we're like 20 right Danny?"

"Oh yeah"

"He said 20 or when something big or traumatic happens"

"Sam, Sam, Sam, must you always be a downer?"

"Must _you_ always be annoying?"

The Techno geek shrugged, "eh, it comes with the job description"

The others rolled their eyes, while Jazz silently hoped that nothing bad would happen.

* * *

 **AN:/ And that's it, hope you all enjoyed it. Like I mentioned I got six drabbles all planed out, yes Poly and Kimera that includes your requests. I've been busy working on a collab with an awesome friend of mine, we legit have 85 pages and counting, unfortunately it's not a DP collab, but it's** ** _great._**

 **Since I want this to be an "update bomb" I need more requests, that way I can make small drabbles but still update every day, this won't really be a confirmed thing, but like my teach for my last class won't be here for a week so, I'll be home at like lunch, so take advantage of that guys, I gots time to write! Well for a week at least, lol.**

 **But anyway you guys know the drill, send me your requests, and I'll write 'em, ask me your questions and I'll answer them, send me your reviews and I'll smile like the little nut I am.**

 **Love yall ^-^**


	23. Fire

**AN/: Hey guys, Welp, didn't get any requests during my week off, which for some reason i'm kind of thankful? Yeah there was a fire, so i was out a commission for the week so because of that you get _Fire_ XD.**

 **Enjoy and Review**

 **DISCLAIMER: I do not own Danny Phantom**

* * *

 **Fire**

It's a shame really, in life, anything that is beautiful, pure and good can easily create damage that far surpasses that of which it once helped, like calm earth to landslides, from still water to floods, _a small spark to a raging fire_.

Valarie Gray knew of Nature, she knew its gentleness and its fierce ways, while she didn't seem it, she was once young, climbing trees and jumping branches, leaves in her curls and river water at her toes.

 _Brown girl, child of Nature, how long will you play?_

She is no longer that way, she learned, Nature gives what it gets back in return.

* * *

 _Brown girl, child of Nature, forever won't you say?_

For every tree that she climbed, and every river she jumped into-

"Valerie dear, smile for me my little nature girl"

"Yes momma"

Rising out of the shallow bank the 8 year old easily posed for the picture. The classic peace sign and a Colgate grin, nothing could ruin that, not even her dripping wet curls or the fact that she lacked two front teeth.

 _Brown girl, child of Nature, shall we go for a swim?_

"Come on now honey, Daddy is waiting for us"

"Ok", waving 'bye' to the clearing and the river, little Valerie trotted up beside her mother, leaving little wet footprints as she strode.

"Did you have fun?"

"Uhuh! Maybe next time I can climb that really high up branch, and swim even deeper in the river!" the child expressed her excitement with open arms and wide eyes, such expression and innocence in her features, her mother chuckled lightly.

"Maybe"

They never returned to that river, as a matter of fact the moved altogether, well not _alt_ ogether.

 _Brown girl, child of Nature, can we go dancing in the wind?_

The Hurricane swept over and their little wooden cottage creaked, shuttered and cried, the wind howled loud and low, shaking windows and cupboards.

"Don't be scared, that's just Nature's song, can you hear it? It's pretty, it's a different language from what we speak"

"What language is it?"

"It's Nature's own, and only it children can truly hear it, you can hear it can't you, you are my little Nature girl right?"

"Right"

The storm didn't seem so scary now, it was a song, with whistles and beats, with shaking leaves, it was a song, and so the child clung to her mother as the song drifted through the night.

 _Brown girl, child of Nature, can we sing in the rain?_

"Now Valerie, what did your Daddy say about climbing trees in the rain?"

The ten year old had the decency to look sheepish, "he said not to"

"Exactly, now come down from there before you slip and fall"

Of course a mother's intuition is always right, shoes on a wet branch-

Valarie slipped….

And fell.

 _Brown girl, child of Nature, are you in pain?_

"Valerie, my little girl, are you ok?"

"I'm fine mommy, the bushes caught me"

The woman could swear there were no bushes there before, but her child came out of one unharmed.

"You really are my little Nature girl"

Too young to understand, the child simply smiled, a leafed twig hanging on to her front curl and still no front teeth.

 _Brown girl, child of Nature, why won't you stay?_

The child grew up too fast, a child of nature no more, not after- she was only twelve!

At eleven she stopped going into the forest and river, too busy with schoolwork, she had chores and responsibilities, her father had mentioned moving, they were going to a new place, a city, there wouldn't be much trees or any rivers.

 _Brown girl, this is Nature, why won't you play?_

Everything was set, the move would be made in two weeks, just in time for her last year of Middle school. The girl was excited, she would be able to make new friends, she would climb all the trees that were there in the Parks, she would be smart and popular.

"Of course you will dear, you're our little girl after all"

 _Brown girl, this is Nature, this is my game._

She was twelve now, today was her birthday, tomorrow they'd be moving, daddy had gotten a job and the apartment was all set up. She was ready for anything, well _almost_ anything. Running to the river to bid it a final farewell, she would miss this place, or so she thought.

 _Brown girl, this is Nature, I give and I take._

How simple a thing, a mere candle with a small spark for a pitiful flame upon a humble cake, isn't it strange how simple things cause the most damage?

The wind sang and swirled around her, the river welcomed her with a splash, but its waves mourned low, the current was fast and frantic like a heartbeat after running, the branches and trees swayed in warning, _something was wrong_.

Green eyes wide, the child ran back, but the wind seemed adamant in deterring her.

"lemme' go! Somethings wrong!"

 _Brown girl, this is Nature, one for the other._

The wind whipped carefully around her little body, pushing her back towards the clearing, but the child was stubborn and the wind relented with a mournful howl.

Free from her "captor" she ran forward… and stopped.

Bright Redish-Orange was all that filled her view.

 _Brown girl, this is Nature, do we not love one another?_

There was nothing left of their little fire in the woods, nothing left at all. Young Valerie clung to her father as she cried, the fire fighters had come too late, her father had come too late, she was right there and could not stop it. The wind had put out the fire before anyone else could, how odd it was that none of the forest burned, solely the little cabin and the mother of a girl with bright green eyes.

The wind curled around the crying pair, but the girl ignored it, her bright green eyes grew dull and the wind stopped. For once the forest was quiet and it would be forevermore.

Moving day came early for the last two Grays. She never went back, Amity Park was her new home

* * *

 _Brown girl, this is Nature, can't we play pretend?_

History tends to repeat itself as one would say, but they never tell you that it's never repeated the same way.

Casper High was going down in flames, nothing short of a blaze of glory, apparently Phantom was fighting a Pyrokenetic ghost, their fight caused them to fly deeper into town, a true elemental battle, fire and ice. As much as she wanted to follow," a chance to bag two ghosts in one shot", the flames kept her in place, she stared at the Redish-Orange that had plagued her mind ever since she was twelve. She watched unmoving as her fellow students ran for their lives.

She didn't move as some bumped and pushed her as they ran passed her, she didn't move as the teachers yelled for students to "calm down and leave in an orderly fashion". No she didn't move, not even as her eyes began to water and smoke filled her lungs, _she didn't move._

"COME ON! EVERYONE OUT!"

The girl blinked, turning her head she could see Sam and Tucker with a Megaphone, they were bravely making sure that other students got out. Wait where was Danny? Shaking her head, she sighed to herself, Danny was likely fine, probably shouting for the others to get out on the other side of the building.

Speak of the Devil, Sam's phone rang.

"Danny!"

"Is he ok?" Pipped Tucker from her side, the Goth gave a brief nod.

"Where are you?! Yeah we got almost everyone out-"

Tucker took the phone from her.

"Ok, got it….we'll meet you outside, after we finish in here", he ended the call and gave Sam back her phone.

Valerie found herself blinking again, she didn't know what possessed her to do so, but she somehow convinced the pair that she would scout the last hall for any remaining students.

The other two were hesitant but eventually gave in and ran to the exit, flames licking at their shoes.

She truly had no idea why or how but she found herself edging closer to the lockers, _the hot, metal lockers._ Of course she could chalk it up to her sense of hearing, but she was far to numb to think it anything of a coincidence.

There was screaming coming from a locker, it was obviously male, and with sound from _inside_ a locker she could only deduce that Dash probably stuffed one of the band geeks or nerds in there. Ignoring how the metal singed her fingers she pried it open to find that it was the latter, the boy whom she did not know, stumbled out, thanking her and breaking for the exit, but not before asking her to make sure Mikey got out of his locker.

"Dash had stuffed him in their before he got me"

Nodding the Gray girl took on the mission, she didn't know why, but she wasn't going to sit back and let another person burn when she could help it. She ran shouting all the way, opening any and every locker she could, hoping to find a hint as to which locker the redheaded boy was in.

Her hands and fingers were stinging now, but she hardly felt them, numb on adrenaline, she kept going, it had only taken five minutes but it felt like an hour, the boy's locker was way at the end and by the time Valerie managed to pry open the door, the scrawny, nerdy teen was half conscious.

Knowing that there weren't any more nerds in the lockers, the girl draped Mikey's arm around her shoulder and made for a trek to the exit. But just as she was about to reach the last stretch of hall for the exit, her body betrayed her.

Her adrenaline gave way and pain was the only thing she could feel, her eyes, mouth and nose stung, her chest ached and her legs wobbled, she couldn't breathe, and her vision was darkening at the edges, Mikey was completely unconscious at this point and his dead weight wasn't helping the situation.

 _Brown girl, this is Nature, I can't just let this end._

A strong gust of wind blew inside the building, sharp and warm, like a slap to the face, Valerie shook her head and shakily trudged forward with determination, idly noting that the fire grew bigger behind her rather than in front _, the wind kept it back._

It only took two minutes to make it outside and three seconds for one of the jocks to get the unconscious Mikey off her back. The crowd outside cheered, and Lancer gave her a proud look, pulling her gently farther away from the burning building and closer to her peers. From the corner of her eye, she could see Danny, Sam and Tucker huddled together like the inseparably trio they were, each sporting burns of their own. She sighed internally, it seemed like no one had gotten out of the fire unscathed, _**but they did all get out.**_

She watched the fire with her fellow students, but unlike them she smirked at the flames, a howling gust of wind blew, causing all outside to duck down, when they looked back again, half the fire cleared, and the arriving fire fighters managed to douse the rest.

Standing up, Valerie brushed herself off, running a finger through her hair only to stop.

There in the front, a leafed twig was held gently in her curl. She tugged the mini branch free, just as the wind whipped around again, it gently curled around her, before taking the twig's sole leaf and carrying it above on its back. For some reason she smiled as she watched the leaf dance high above on the wind.

 _Brown girl, no longer of Nature, I bid you farewell again._

* * *

 **AN:/ And that's it, hope you all enjoyed it. As for the my fire, it was nothing big, everyone's ok now, hardly any expense and no one got hurt *cough*except for me*cough*,Like I mentioned before I got some drabbles planed out, so every Wednesday _should_ be an update. But don't let that discourage you from sending me your requests, i still got plenty of time to write, and i love hearing from you guys. Hell just PM me and i'm up for a chat. ;)**

 **But anyway you guys know the drill, send me your requests, and I'll write 'em, ask me your questions and I'll answer them, send me your reviews and I'll smile like the little nut I am.**

 **Love yall ^-^**


	24. Distractions pt3

**AN:/ Ok so a really cool Anon (Guest) requested this like legit five minutes after I posted the previous one** _ **, soo,**_ **double update before update day! Yo Poly Update bomb lives XD**

 **Enjoy and Review**

 **DISCLAIMER: I do not own Danny Phantom**

* * *

 **Distractions pt3: Heat**

His fangs ached, they were so sensitive and partially numb it was borderline painful, of course that him running his tongue over them every few seconds didn't help much.

"You're going to hurt yourself if you keep doing that, you know", the voice was stern and reprimanding, but he ignored it anyway

Rubbing his tongue on his newly formed Fangs, he winced, whining slightly as he sat on his bed.

"What did I just tell you? I swear you're a child sometimes, come let me see, did you cut your tongue again?"

Nocturne had practically dragged him into his room after the children had left, and was "mothering" him ever since, he gave no protest he was tired anyway and the meds he was given to numb the pain made him feel _Odd._

Truly he couldn't blame the other, Fangs _breaking_ before they could form was almost unheard of, it did happen, but only if the ghost was really angry or stressed, he highly doubted that Nocturne was going to leave him alone for about a week, oh right, he'd have to deal with his claws next week, scratch that, Nocturne was probably going to stay with him for two weeks to a month.

Not that he minded anyway, he liked the company-

"Clock- Clockwork!"

The Time Master Blinked.

"You haven't been listening to a word I said have you?"

He opened his mouth to say something, but wisely decided to keep it shut.

The Dreamweaver rolled his eyes.

"I swear, what am I going to do with you? I said come here so I can see what you did to your tongue"

Complying he moved forward, during his "examination" he had the strangest urge to run his tongue over the gloved finger, that was poking around in his mouth, so he did.

Feeling what he knew was a tongue, travel slowly and gently over his latex covered finger, Nocturne gave his friend a deadpanned glare.

"Really, why?"

Strangely enough, the Time Master shrugged.

"Don' kno, jus wa'-ed to"

"Do you hate the English language? That what three times for the day that you botched it?"

"Mae-be"

"Really?"

"Wel u haf ur fin'-er in ma mouf"

"Yeah, I do because I'm trying to see what extent of damage you caused your teeth and tongue, but by the fact that you just licked my finger, I can take a guess and say your tongue is fine"

Clockwork gave him an odd grin.

Rolling his eyes once again the Dream ghost best to see the area around his friend's Fangs, it was still slightly swollen but that would go down soon enough. He was about to put some numbing cream on the gums when the tongue came back again.

Nocturne glared and opened his mouth to reprimand the other only to find himself being pulled into a heated kiss, strangely enough Clockwork let him lead, instead of the usual "dance for dominance", the kiss continued nice and slow until Clockwork pulled back with a yelp. _Teeth and tongue touched fangs._

"Oww"

"Well I saw that coming", the Time Master pouted, "well what did you expect, your Fangs are sensitive as hell and they'll be that way for at least a week"

Clockwork groaned and lay against Nocturne's chest, at some point during the kiss the Temporal ghost had managed to make his way comfortably on the Dreamweaver's lap.

Nocturne looked down with a semi smug smile, "so, what brought this on hmm? You're almost never in the mode, what's with that kiss?"

The Time Master in his lap simply shrugged, it was strange but it looked like the other was trying to control his breathing and since they didn't need to, Nocturne brought his gloveless hand to Clockwork's forehead, he felt slightly warm and clammy but it was not a fever. The Dreamweaver chalked it up to being pain.

"Here, I'll put this paste on your fangs, should help with the pain, among the other pain killers I gave you"

The Time keeper turned his head away.

"Clockwork really? This will help, I didn't put it before because I didn't think it was that bad"

The Temporal ghost simple curled further away in response.

"Clockwork, I'm serious, I would let you do it but I know you, since you won't do it I have to, now come on"

Rolling his eyes as he stopped his friend from squirming, he basically had to wrap his legs around the other to keep him from moving.

"Really Clockwork this is for your own good"

He applied the paste to his gloved fingers and using his free hand he held steady his friend's face, with Clockwork held firm, Nocturne began applying the paste to the teeth and gums.

The second the fingers brushed his Fangs, Clockwork hissed out a curse of pain, he had neglected to realize just how sensitive his Fangs were, at one point he could swear he almost passed out, if it weren't for Nocturne's shushing and comfort words he probably _would_ have passed out.

* * *

It had taken a good half hour before Clockwork's pain tensed body finally relaxed against his chest, his Fangs had finally gone completely numb, he knew very well the other was in pain, but it was for his own good, now he lay lax, awake of course but finally processing that he felt no pain. His gums were still swollen so Nocturne hummed quietly as he massaged his friends gums, sure it seemed weird but they've been through worse shit together.

After about another half hour Nocturne finally stopped, his own fingers had gone numb, removing his hand, he grimaced slightly at the string of saliva that followed.

"Ugh, this is why I'm glad I'm not a dentist", he frowned when the other didn't comment, so he took the purple cloak and whipped his hand with it. Clockwork simply phased that and his tunic off, seemingly content with both articles of clothing off.

Nocturne's frown grew deeper.

"You ok?"

"No" Said Clockwork breathless as he buried himself as best he could on Nocturne's chest.

He didn't like this, his skin pricked and tingled, he felt warm all over, his only solace was that Nocturne felt cool against his body, at this point all he wanted to do was- wait, _what in the world? Mating season was months ago!_

The Dreamweaver grew a tad bit concerned, his friend was flush against his chest, and he was panting slightly as if he had gone running, his skin was still warm and clammy but it wasn't a fever.

"H-hey, what where the-", croaked Clockwork before Nocturne cut him off

"What were the Meds made off?" The Time keeper nodded.

"The usual acetaminophen and some extract from the poppies-" The Dream ghost's eyes widened and a smirk graced his lips.

Clockwork groaned.

"You poor thing", cooed the Dreamweaver with mock sympathy, "how are the aphrodisiacs treating you?"

Once more the Temporal ghost groaned and once again attempted to bury himself in the others chest.

Nocturne chuckled, he could see the purple blush, but he knew very well that's not all it was. His friend's breathing suddenly made a lot more sense.

Clockwork groaned again, mentally cursing Nocturne for giving him something with an aphrodisiac tendency and cursing his body for reacting to it.

The Dreamweaver decided to humor his poor friend by running an idle finger lightly across his pale blue sides, he smirked as the body shivered, it was always amusing to test the limit of self-control the other had.

Nocturne was teasing him and he knew it, those clawed fingers grazed from his shoulder to his hip and gently back up, the feeling caused him to shiver, god he needed knew friends, some who weren't kids or assholes.

Appreciating the reaction and just plain wanting to see his friend squirm, the Dream ghost slowly raked a clawed finger or two across the blue stomach, and gently ever so gently, the claws danced on the case.

Clockwork's breath hitched, Nocturne smirked.

Dragging slowly from the case up to his chest and across two nubs, then back down to dance on the case and then down to the lower stomach. Then lower… and lower… then right back up again.

The Temporal ghost groaned in frustration, he was practically pouting.

Taking pity, Nocturne reached down and pulled the other into a gentle kiss, Clockwork was being quite submissive, and following along nicely, it was strange, he was far too used to their "battles" but he wasn't going to complain and neither was Clockwork.

His Fangs were numb and he thanked who ever that the paste tasted like mint, the slow kiss was making him dizzy, but he could careless at this point though, especially as a free hand kept trailing across his chest. He couldn't remember when but somehow he was on his back and Nocturne had found a way to open his case. Cold fingers brushed gently against the face of the clock.

" _Mhn"_

Nocturne smirked in the kiss as Clockwork moaned, the Time Master had his hair splayed about him, long white longs clashed amazingly against dark purple sheets. He decided to keep teasing the other, slightly moving his claw to the back of the Pendulum, he was rewarded for the action when the body beneath him bucked up and moaned.

" _Mhng"_

Smirking Nocturne closed the case, moving his hands slowly down the blue stomach, he moved lower and lower…

Until…

A knock rang out from the wooden door.

"Hey if you two are gonna fuck, can you keep it down, some ghosts are tryin' ta sleep here"

Clockwork's face coloured and Nocturne barley managed to keep him in his arms as he squirmed away in embarrassment, _great_ , fun time was over, it didn't matter how much hard he was, and that was evident as he could feel the other's _need_ pressed up against him, The Time Master wasn't going to budge, he never did once interrupted.

Nocturne growled.

"Must you always ruin my moments Dan?"

"Yes, I'm an A class asshole, it's what I do"

"Well you have three seconds to shut up and get back to your room before you see what _I'll do to you_ "

"Oh really? And what can you do, you starry assed bastard?"

* * *

Long story short Dan was in the Med wing for a week, just in time for him to deal with his claws.

"Great", drawled the Large Phantom as he picked at his itching nails.

* * *

 **AN:/ And that's it, hope you all enjoyed theses pages of almost porn XD. Anon had requested Sub!CW, so here you go dear,Like I mentioned before I got some drabbles planed out, so every Wednesday _should_ be an update. But don't let that discourage you from sending me your requests, i still got plenty of time to write, and i love hearing from you guys. Hell just PM me and i'm up for a chat. ;)**

 **But anyway you guys know the drill, send me your requests, and I'll write 'em, ask me your questions and I'll answer them, send me your reviews and I'll smile like the little nut I am.**

 **Love yall ^**


	25. Names

**AN/: Hey guys, It's Wednesday, y'all Know what that means, _Updates!_**

 **Enjoy and Review**

 **DISCLAIMER: I do not own Danny Phantom**

* * *

 **Names**

Danny growled slightly at his best friend, "This was a terrible idea. Your ideas are terrible, I hope you know that."

"No, Danny Phantom beating forty ghosts. That's as many as four tens. And _that's_ terrible-" Before the boy could finish the Gothic female of the trio cut him off.

" _This,_ is far past _beyond_ terrible Tucker, we're _**stuck**_ here, do you know what that means?"

The African American gulped.

"Woah easy Sam, let's not maim the driver, we kinda need him to get back"

The Goth girl sighed and faced the young Phantom who had spoken, her voice was crisp, clear and cold,

"You don't get it Dani, we shouldn't _be_ here, they don't like us, at all, they could easily call this trespassing and have us all killed, were intruders regardless", the clone opened her mouth to say something but Sam cut her off, " Clockwork may not be able to pull some strings like he did last time"

Dani frowned, the elder girl was right, they could very well get in trouble for this.

"Don't worry Sam, we'll get the speeder up and running in no time-"

"You'd better-"

"What's with you Sam?" asked Tucker "you're not normally this jumpy-"

"Yeah Tuck's right, you're not afraid of the, are you?"

"Well excuse me for worrying, I just don't trust the Observants and I rather not face them without back up and our _backup_ may very well get in trouble for something he didn't do, now let's hope you fix that engine before-", the walls shifted, moving to give view to what obviously looked like a court and a very large one at that.

Circular rows upon rows of ghosts and Observants, some with auras that practically scream power and some whose auras couldn't be sensed at all. The two humans and two halfas were still hidden from view but, hardly anything was hidden from there's, not a meter away, in the semi center of the high mid row, was Clockwork, he was talking to Nocturne and Pandora. All of a sudden the Temporal Ghost straighten up, eyes wide for a fraction of a second, turning his head, _crimson met Violet,_ the Goth stopped cold.

Two other Pairs of Crimson eyes locked on to the Children and in a blink of an eye all the Masters' were in front of them.

"What are you doing here?" hissed Clockwork, his face was impassive but his tone, it cause the children to shiver.

"Um", Dani decided to speak, "we wanted to finish our Map of the Ghost Zone, so Tucker said he'd drive, while Sam navigates and Me and Danny would be look outs-"

"That still doesn't explain why or how you got in here young one", Pandora sounded far calmer than Clockwork did but a frown was etched upon her face.

The Clone looked down shyly. Seeing as the girl would no longer say anything, Danny stepped in.

"We actually don't know how we got here, well actually we do, but we don't know why…" the pointed look he received from Nocturne caused him to stutter, but he managed to hold himself together enough to explain. "… and then this random portal just opened and spit us out in here"

Clockwork frowned. "And you were by the FarFrozen , you say?"

The Children nodded.

Pandora sighed, "Let's be glad that no one was injured-"

"And that real world items don't tend to break in the Ghost Zone" piped Nocturne, who now sported a bored look, Clockwork was still thinking.

Finally the Temporal ghost spoke, his eyes were wide and his voice was urgent, "we need to get them out of here _now!"_

But before anyone could do anything, a loud booming voice cut through the murmuring of the intermission, the crowd went silent.

Three names were called.

* * *

"Chronus, Master and keeper of Time", Clockwork winced, "Pandorathene, Master of Hope and Guardian of the Box, Pandora followed the suit, "and Nocturnus, Master and weaver of Dreams", Nocturne simply crossed his arms, "What is the meaning of this?"

Clockwork was about to answer, but narrowed his eyes when he noticed one of the figures laughing, well failing to stifle a silent laughter, the Time Keeper knew exactly who it was. Like the speaker, and everyone in that particular circular section, the figure was wearing a white cloak that completely covered their body. The cloak was similar to that of the Ancients, after all these white cloaked ghosts were their scribes.

Everyone knew to respect an Ancient Scribe, for each was a personal Scribe for an Ancient, to offend a Scribe was to offend the Ancient themselves and no one was that suicidal. The Scribe laughing silently was the youngest, the one currently scolding the Masters' as if they were children, in which when you look at it, compared to him they really were, was the Head Scribe.

Clockwork having taken too long the Head Scribe questioned again, this time it was directly for the Time Master.

"Chronus, why are your charges and their humans here? Explain yourself"

Clockwork having no choice, gave a far more detailed explanation than Danny or Dani had given him. His voice ringing out loud clear and stable, an impassive looked was once more on his face, the Head Scribe listened intently.

Seeing that Clockwork was currently saving their asses Tucker turned to Pandora and whispered, "Those are your real names?"

Pan nodded, solemnly.

"You can probably guess why Clockwork and Nocturne have those Names, as for me, it's a generation thing", seeing as the children looked confused, Pandora explained further, "My grandfather's name was Pandorus, as a 'Pandora' he passed the name and title to his child, my mother was Pandorris-"

"So that's where she got 'Dorris the slayer' from", peeped Dani in awe.

"Yes, Dorris is technically her name while 'Pandora is the title-"

"So that means that your name is Thene?"

" _Athene,_ Daniel, like Athens? Just with an 'e', as a Pandora I bare the title as will my future children"

"So what would the names be if you have a boy or a girl?"

The Guardian of the Box looked gave the Gotha wry smirk.

"Though I'm far from ready to have a child, if male I would call him Pandorieon-"

"So his name would be Dorieon?"

"That is correct Tucker, now if I had a daughter her name would be Pandoraryas, Arayas, would be her true name"

Somewhere during the talk of names Sam managed to glance at Clockwork, who was still speaking to the Head Scribe, she had looked just in time to see the Temporal ghost wince. Her eyes widened.

" **THAT'S ENOUGH!"**

The Head Scribes voice bellowed throughout the large Observatory, everyone flinched and the first coherent thought that raced through Sam's mind was, " _Shit"._

* * *

 **AN:/ And that's it, hope you all enjoyed, i'll definitely continue this one, we'll see what kind of trouble our favorite characters get into yet XD. Like I mentioned previously I got some drabbles planed out, so every Wednesday _should_ be an update but i'm thinking i can squeeze in Thursday too, i love hearing from you guys, your reviews give me life i swear, leave one here and i'll update tomorrow or Hell just PM me and i'm up for a chat. ;)**

 **But anyway you guys know the drill, send me your requests, and I'll write 'em, ask me your questions and I'll answer them, send me your reviews and I'll smile like the little nut I am.**

 **Love yall ^-^**


	26. Lap Dog

**AN/: Hey guys, it be Wednesday, also, to those who are gonna suffer come January, I wish ya'll the best of luck**

 **Enjoy and Review**

 **DISCLAIMER: I do not own Danny Phantom**

 **Lap Dog**

* * *

Everyone knew he was the Time Masters Hound, ehem _lap-Dog,_ pulled from where ever he was and made to do the dirty work. Funny thing is, they forgot he was doing this before, now he just had a title, and quite frankly his resentment for it had lessened, he still got to destroy, maim and kill like the psychopath he was and he wouldn't get in trouble for it, anyone who knew his title feared him, in this realm or he next.

He had just came back from his latest "assignment" and was currently sitting on the couch, munching on some cookies, Clockwork reached up and pat his fiery head, the flames didn't burn, they simply crackled and parted under the gloved hand.

"Good boy"

Dan huffed at the implication.

The Time Master smirked, unlike the usual smirk of amusement, this one almost seemed feral and for some reason that excited him.

"I have a reward for you Dan"

"Oh?" the Phantom inched closer.

"A realm"

"What?"

"An _entire_ realm", the smirk on the Ghost's face grew even more.

This was not lost on Dan.

"What's the catch?" The Phantom was skeptical and rightfully so, an entire realm for one ghost was a huge deal, he wanted to know why Clockwork would give him one.

"The catch is", if the smirk looked feral before he didn't know what to call it now, fangs added to the mix and the Phantom shivered slightly, "everyone in that realm needs to be whipped out".

"So, what you're saying is, I get an entire realm, if I kill everyone on it?"

"Yes essentially", with fangs ever present, the smirk had yet to leave the Time Keepers lips.

Dan cocked his head, "Not that I'm complaining, but why? You're not one to go and wipe out an entire realm because you feel like, what makes this place so important?"

Clockwork chuckled, deep, dark and empty, "That realm is solely composed of murders and rapists, it took me eons but I've finally been given clearance to destroy it"

The large Phantom scoffed, "I see your point, murder I get but rape? That's sinking to a low I'd never go", seeing the Time Master's raised brow he growled while he explained, "don't get me wrong, I hardly feel any modicum of pity, but lowering oneself to _that,_ makes one even less than an animal and you know well I have no mercy for those I deem less than dirt"

"Good, glad we're on the same page-"

"Not quite Oldman, when I wipe out the realm _I_ get to keep it, why didn't you just do that and keep it yourself?"

This time the smirk changed… into a wry grin, fangs still remained as unretracted as ever, "For all means and purposes technically I _own_ you, so you while you own the realm, I own it too-", Dan glared, but said nothing, "don't worry, I did say it was a reward, you can keep the realm, but I get to have a say in who lives in it"

The Phantom mulled it over "do they follow my rules?"

"If I deem them decent, then yes"

"Fair enough, how much time do I have for this offer?"

The smirk came back. "As long as you need."

This time Dan gave a smirk of his own, "I'll take you up on that Oldman"

With a flick of his fingers a large blue portal opened, Clockwork gave him a mock bow, "have fun".

* * *

Amongst the screams and the tearing of limbs and blood splatter surrounding him, he smiled, sure he was the Hound of the Time Master, but the loyal dogs always get the sweetest treats.

* * *

 **AN:/ And that's it, ok so this one was extremely short, like the shortest thing I've ever written, but like don't worry, i have big plans, the next few updates are small, but not this small, they're all going to be pieces, tiny pieces of a puzzle, and i wanna see how well you guys put them together, _Scared, Names_ and this one _Lap Dog,_ are included as these pieces, good luck trying to piece things together. More are on the way, if tell me what you think is happening as either a review or PM me, i'll tell you how close you are ;) Also requests are still open guys.**

 **But anyway you guys know the drill, send me your requests, and I'll write 'em, ask me your questions and I'll answer them, send me your reviews and I'll smile like the little nut I am.**

 **Love yall ^-^**


	27. It Begins

**AN/: Hey guys, it be Wednesday, remember these drabbles are scattered Pieces, let's see who can put them all together ;)**

 **Enjoy and Review**

 **DISCLAIMER: I do not own Danny Phantom**

* * *

 **It Begins**

"Well that was something".

Samantha "Sam" Manson, had always had strange outlook on life, Dark yet kind, cruel yet merciful, and well, she _was_ a strange child after all, could you expect her dreams to be no less?

" _ **Buble"**_

Grandma Ida was truly a light in anyone's life, even if it had to be a black light for her granddaughter. Sam smiled as her grandmother came in with the aforementioned "light" in her hand, Ida smiled back. Her daughter-in-law always found it odd that she would she would use a black light instead of turning on the light switch and "brighten up Sammy-kins' day", of course the old woman ignored her, knowing very well her granddaughter was a creature of the night, _just as she was once._

"Morning Granma Ida"

"Hello dearie, I see you're up early"

"I didn't want to miss this day, it's been _so_ long since we actually hung out together"

"I know **Buble** , but we all have our lives outside of the family, you with your friends and me with my late night poker games" the elderly woman winked.

Sam's laugh filled the room, instantly all thoughts of her previously _semi_ - _disturbing?_ dream vanished without a trace. Truly she missed this, just the two of them, the oldest and the youngest Mansons at ease, with a whole day planned ahead of them games, movies, poker, you name it.

* * *

Their first stop was the arcade, what? The Goth had to get her gaming skill from somewhere and heavens knows that neither of her parents had an inkling of fun in their bodies. The 'Old Arcade', as majority of Amity's population dubbed it was aptly named, not because it looked run down, no, the building was quite clean and generally well kept.

It was the _first_ arcade and it still held a lot of the classic games like Pac-man, Meteor, hell it even had one of the original Mario games, they had Skee-ball for some reason in there too, truly the only thing old about the place was the games and that's what made it even better.

Because the shortest way there was to park at a lane in front of a One-way street, the two Mansons got out of the Limo and walked, well Ida had her scooter, to the other side. Sam walked to the **divider** , the Arcade was directly in front of her, and all she had to do was cross the distance. Apparently, she wasn't the only one who wanted to cross, a black cat with amber eyes seemed to have the same idea, and however the cat was on the side opposite to the Goth girl.

Funny, she wanted to be where the cat was and the cat wanted to be where she was, ah, if _only_ she could snap her fingers and switch places, if she had not known better, the Manson girl may have wished it out loud, but she _**knew**_ the consequences of that, Desiree would probably switch her body with the cat's and as much as she loved black cats, she wasn't too keen on becoming one.

Shaking her head, she checked if the coast was clear, _it was,_ asshesteppedfootdown _, a white flash,_ that turned into a _red blur_ , zoomed by her out of the corner of her peripherals. Blinking, she stood back onto the **divider**. Shaking her head once more, blaming the _thing_ on a trick of light, she turned around to see how her grandmother was fairing.

She had forgotten that the scooter wasn't working as well as it should, so she stepped off the **divider** to aid her grandmother. Little did she Know, that the second she stepped off, the cat attempted to cross, a truck flew past in a _white flash_ , the cat didn't make it, such a large machine on a tiny creature, it left nothing more than a _red blur_.

Once across and in front of the Arcade, Sam idly wondered where the cat went, shrugging to herself when she didn't see it, cats were fickle things, it had probably ran cross and home a while ago. Pushing open the door that rang with a chime, the once gold, now bronze, bell never ceased to make its beautiful high notes, the inside always smelt of cinnamon and butterscotch , smiling to herself and Grandmother, she closed the door behind her, not once aware of the blood stain a couple of meters across from her.

* * *

Clockwork subtly placed a hand to his eyes, god he hated council meetings, this one especially, an "on-the-fly" assembly was formed, meaning that majority of the council _was not there_ , this included the elders and the Ancient Scribes, to make up for it, more than enough Observants filled the empty seats. The meeting was about the random amount of natural portals that appearing and the _disappearing_ of lesser ghosts.

Though he should be paying attention considering that managing portals _was_ a part of his job description, but at this moment he could care less, his head pounded, his eyes stung and he felt a bit dizzy, all he wanted to do was _drop_ and it took every ounce of his will not to. On the Brightside, Pan and Nocturne were suffering with him, somewhere between all these Observants, he sighed, this was going to be a long day.

* * *

Ida watched amusedly as her granddaughter semi-pouted, her score for Skee-ball was 190 while Sam scored a mere 80, chuckling she offered her advice.

"Come now **buble** , it's all about the wrist-"

"I don't think so, I think you just have the angle advantage down there", she gave a little winking smile, to which the elder woman gave back, they moved towards another game, "see this one I'm sure to win"

The two were now in front of a basketball game, two hoops, two balls, two nets, one victor, who ended up being Ida. The young Goth scowled slightly, the older Manson chuckled.

"I told you **buble** , it's all in the wrists, let me show you a thing or two dear", Rolling her eyes Sam conceded, and allowed the older woman to teach her some tricks.

All in all the day went quite well, after the game of 'Hoops', they both headed off to the digital game section, Grandma Ida went to the left, her Meteor record was in jeopardy, someone named D-berg was just shy of a hundred points to beat her. Sam smiled as she watched her Grandmother ensure her record was still unbeatable, while she herself, decided to _make_ a record for Pac-man, T-trner was going down.

Yes, things were going well…

Up until 3'oclock at least.

She was a mere 10 points to beating the High score, _10¸_ and in ten seconds the tell-tale click of a gun, cool metal pressed behind her head and she could do no more than gasp in shock.

"Now, now little Girl, you're a rich one, aint'cha?" his gruff voice sent shivers down her spine, but her blood ran cold no more than three seconds later.

Let it be known that Grandma Ida was the most badass grandmother a child could ask for.

"That's _My_ granddaughter, you hooligan!", with that the little old lady came up from nowhere and smack the gunman with her purse, the man and gun went flying to the side.

Without a thought Sam embraced the elderly woman, only to be pushed down a second later. Looking up through slightly watery eyes, she stiffened. _She didn't hear the bang_ , but there it was, the little old lady sat stiffly in her pink scooter, _with a bullet through her head._

It was very obvious what had happened, that bullet was obviously for _her_ , Ida had pushed her dear granddaughter out of the line of fire, she had sacrificed herself, for the first time in years Sam truly cried like the child she denied she was.

The gun man had long ran off, as a matter of fact everyone that was in the building ran off, leaving just the two of them, the oldest and the youngest Mansons, but neither were at ease, one was alive and the other was obviously dead.

Crying Sam held Ida's body, hugging her close, the only member of her family that understood her, gone, in the blink of an-

 **Violet eyes blinked…**

Instead of hugging a rapidly cooling body, she found herself hugging her pillow, blinking again, Sam sat up, _it was just a dream._ Throwing the covers off her, the Goth quickly found her feet, but before she could run out of her room, she felt her foot brush against something.

It was the newspaper.

And on the very page, was an image, and it would have been a cute image if it were not for the fact that the little old lady on the front had a _bullet through her head._ Sam dropped the paper and screamed.

This time she woke sitting up in bed, panting and sweating, she shakily reached up to wipe her eyes, she had slowly managed to calm her beating heart, just in time for Grandma Ida to sneak in.

" **Buble** , are you alright?"

The Goth only nodded numbly, she couldn't look at Ida without seeing the headline.

"We can still go to the arcade if you're up for it-"

" _Would that be ok? It was just a dream right, that wasn't going to happen right?",_ so lost in her thoughts, she began imagining how the day would play out, each ending with her Grandmother dead.

"We don't have to go, you know"

Sam gasped, it was as if the breath was knocked right out of her, but it for some reason, it came back just a quick. Ida watched puzzled and slightly concerned about her granddaughter's sudden behavior.

" **Buble**? It's ok, you can go with your friends if you have other plans, we can always go to the arcade another time", she asked with a raised brow.

"No!"

Both women blinked, taken aback by the shout, Ida at the shout itself and Sam for doing so without meaning too.

"I- I mean, no arcade, l-let's not go there today, I still wanna hang out with you, but not there, can we do something else?"

"Oh? Like what"

"Umm", the Manson girl probed her mind for any modicum of an answer, and for some reason her brain provided "knitting"

"Knitting? You want me to teach you how to knit? Are you sure **Buble?** "

Sam nodded with a semi-strained "mhm" that wasn't convincing to either of them.

Ida decided to let it slide, "anything for you dearie."

* * *

Clockwork's head was pounding even more now, hell at this point he could see it pulse, he swore that his vision swam at least three times, something was wrong and the more he tried to figure it out, the more pain it caused him.

The meeting was still going and the Time Keeper hardly heard any of it, _"The portals where opening where?"_ He didn't hear, he could hardly think straight, the pain he was in was excruciating, it felt like things were getting erased, _painfully_ , his vision swam once more and he barely had time to brace himself against the stand.

" _Damn",_ He didn't fall nor did he sway much, but the edges of his vision were going black, little spots danced across his view. He probably would have passed out sooner, if it weren't for the loud, booming voice of the Head Observant calling for an intermission.

All he heard was intermission, 15 and proceed, and somewhere in his slowly shutting down mind he placed together that there was a fifteen minute intermission and the meeting would proceed after that time. Clockwork decided to use the intermission as a cover to leave, the council could say what they wanted, he wasn't going to make a fool of himself and collapse in front of everyone.

Unfortunately for him, Fate had other plans, the second he opened a portal a pair of Observant stopped him.

"Clockwork where are you going?"

The Time Master internally groaned, he had neither the time nor the patience to explain to them what was happening, especially considering the fact that he himself did not know.

"I'm leaving", he paused, his vision blurred for a few seconds, "I'm not feeling well," that was as honest as he could get, "my apologies", with that he turned and walked through the portal and into his Citadel. Instantly he was hit with a wave of Vertigo, he swayed and the little dancing black dots decided to connect and drown him in darkness.

"Clockwork!"

* * *

The two sets of voices rang across simultaneously.

Nocturne who was apparently close by, had heard his friend say he wasn't feeling well and Pandora, who was out of earshot, had saw him leave and made the connection herself.

So here they are now, the five of them in the Citadel, two Observants, Nocturne and Pandora who was holding a semi-conscious Clockwork. Pan had shot through the portal and caught Clockwork, the second he swayed, he landed on her with a slight grunt of pain, strangely enough, despite not seeing anything but darkness, he was still some-what conscious, he could hear Nocturne scolding the Observants but he couldn't really focus on what he was saying.

Pan who cradled him, was running her fingers through his hair, with one of her upper hands, while the other was checking him for damage, the other two hands are what cradled him to her chest. Any other day he would tease her that she was holding him like a broken doll, but, right now, that's how he truly felt, another wave of pain hit him and he groaned slightly.

He was vaguely aware that Nocturne had continued to argue, when Pan grabbed his face, holding it gently with both her upper hands, she placed her blue forehead on his and whispered, " _Og ot plees ew lliw klat nehw ouy ekaw"._ He couldn't recall if he nodded or not, Pan didn't seem to mind, she simply held him tighter as he let go of the small string of consciousness that he held.

* * *

"and if you think-", the sound of shuffling made him pause mid rant. Turning around, Nocturne watched as Pan carried the now limp Time Master in his arms.

"He got a fever?"

Pan nodded once at the Dreamweaver.

"Core exhaustion?" probed an Observant.

"No", Nocturne shook his head, "this is different", frowning he placed his hand on the Time Keeper's head, closing his eyes and concentrating, only to jump back with a yelp. Temporal energy like electricity raced up and crackled on his arm like blue lightning.

"Defense mechanism?" probed the other.

"No, that's something else, we know his defense mechanisms", this time, Pan was the one who answered. "Noc?"

"I saw something, it was pitch black, but I saw pair of Fangs I didn't recognize"

"Does that have something to do with-", Pan gestured to, with her eyes, the one she was currently holding. Nocturne shrugged.

"Maybe, it could even have something to do with all these random portals, hell the portals could be what's messing him up too, but we can deal with that later, take him to his room, I'll get the ice"

Pandora nodded and pulled her friend closer to her, in response, the unconscious body curled a little. Everyone in the Citadel could agree, that with his body slightly curled and hair splayed out, Clockwork looked far too young and vulnerable for any being of his power.

* * *

It was just the two of them at the Manson Mansion, so Sam and Ida spent the whole day knitting, neither noticed their evening paper with its strangely familiar image upon it, not that they could, a random black dog with amber eyes took it and trotted down the street.

* * *

 **AN/: It has begun, MWAHAHAH! Time for y'all to start guessing where this is going ;)**

 **What Pan said, was backwards "** _ **Go to sleep we will talk when you wake"**_

 **like i mentioned before the rest of the drabbles are all going to be pieces, tiny pieces of a puzzle, and i wanna see how well you guys put them together, _Scared, Names_ , _Lap Dog, and this one_ are included as these pieces, good luck trying to piece things together. More are on the way, if tell me what you think is happening as either a review or PM me, i'll tell you how close you are ;) Also requests are still open guys.**

 **But anyway you guys know the drill, send me your requests, and I'll write 'em, ask me your questions and I'll answer them, send me your reviews and I'll smile like the little nut I am.**

 **Love yall ^-^**


	28. Possessive

**AN/: Hey guys, it be Wednesday, remember these drabbles are scattered Pieces, let's see who can put them all together ;)**

 **Enjoy and Review**

 **DISCLAIMER: I do not own Danny Phantom**

* * *

 **Possessive**

Clockwork owned very few things, his Staff, his Citadel and his Title, he would admit open and honest that he tended to be quite possessive when it came to his stuff, so god bless anyone who tried to take those things away.

/

"You did what?!" The echo bellowed throughout the Citadel, clocks ticking and chiming in the background only added to the unsettling fury.

The figure the question was directed to, visibly cowered, after all, this display pure rage wasn't just shown to anyone, as a matter of fact, the most anyone would have seen of him was only slight anger, a scoff or two there and at worst a fanged growl, but this, this was something _far_ different.

"How dare _you_?" Clockwork's voice was steely and cold, the echo held his rage but he did not once shout, as level as it was, anyone under his current gaze would fall to their knees and beg for mercy and it looked like mercy was something he wouldn't offer at the moment.

Of course the cowering figure had too much pride to beg but he was no fool, with head bowed, he stuttered out and excuse.

"T-the Ob-observants-"

"What about them?" The Time Master was in no mood to hear of his so called employers.

"T-they s-sent me to do it, I-"

"Since when do you take orders from the Observants?" though it was a question the raised brow and half bared fangs of the Temporal Ghost made it look more like a cruel snide, the echo had yet to leave, and the figure cowered further.

"I-"

"You are but a scribe, but not their _scribe-"_

Somehow the scribe found courage.

"I am an _Ancient's_ Scribe and-"

"and a poorly chosen one at that," the Time keeper waved him off with a hand, his voice going eerily quiet, but still yet cold, the echo remained and chills travelled down the figure's spine, " now tell me, _**Michael**_ what would possess you to follow Observant orders, when you have paperwork to fill out for your Ancient? Hmm, what would possess you _**Michael**_ to take the girl, _my charge_ and toss her in there as if she were nothing more than a piece of filth?! Tell me _**Michael**_ what in it could you have possibly gained?! Answer me _**Mich**_ -!"

"My name is Michael (Mika-el) dammit-!"

"And _My name_ is Clockwork, _**Master of Time**_ and you just sent _My charge,_ nothing short of a young girl, to her death, give me one good reason I shouldn't send you to yours", with that the afore mentioned Master of Time held his staff up an within the blink of an eye the Figure, who we now know as an Ancient's Scribe, found himself against a cog with the glowing staff pressed at his throat.

"You didn't do this because of the order did you? Everyone knows Ancient scribes serve none other than their Ancients, you did this out of your petty selfishness and for your own amusement, didn't you?!"

Despite the staff that was a hair's breadth from burning through his throat, the Scribe still found it in him to answer defiantly, "That child doesn't deserve to exist, she is unnatural, scrounged up and made-no cloned from another abomination, how dare you consider either of those disgusting creatures your charges-?"

"How dare I _?!_ How dare I _?!_ " The Time Keeper laughed, coldly, "How dare _**you,**_ you came here to _my_ Citadel, with a petty little smile, to tell me you've tossed _my_ youngest charge into a realm filled with Murderers and Rapists, who would devour that child in seconds and you have the gall to tell me why I would consider her or her original my charges? You want an answer? The Time Master leaned in close, and whispered coldly, "Because they are far greater than you will _**ever**_ be".

Michael gulped, if everyone knew not to anger an Ancient, now they'll know not to piss of the Time Master either, even if he wanted to beg, he would disgrace his Ancient, _his Ancient!_

"My Ancient shall hear of this!", the scribe smirked, he would get away, no one would face an ancient.

 _ **He was wrong.**_

"And what of it?!, the Scribe's smirk filled with fear and fell away so fast that if one had blinked they would have missed it. "I care not who your Ancient is, you just sent my Charge to a realm that even I would not wish upon my enemies," the Scribe gulped once more, Clockwork's crimson eyes grew a dark deep red, his gaze could not be called anything but intense and his words were more so, "bring her to me-"

"B-but I can't-"

"You can and you _**will**_ , you're the one who sent her in there, so you'll be the one to bring her out and I swear if she does not live **, you will not either"**

"B-but I"

Clockwork swung his staff, the Scribe dropped down and screamed in pain.

"Oh get up I did not harm you… _ **yet**_ "

True to his word, Michael stood up to find himself uninjured but the shoulder section of his white cloak had turn to ash. The scribe shakily brushed it off and looked fearfully at the Time Master.

" _ **BRING HER TO ME!"**_

All the poor scribe could do was nod, as he turned tail and flew fearfully out of the Citadel, he knew that today he had made a grave mistake.

* * *

It had taken hours but Michael had finally brought the reason for his trouble back to the Time Master. Not giving a damn at all Clockwork grabbed the child from the other and cradled her in his arms, the girl looked mere inches from becoming full ghost, body broken, bruised and her suit was covered in tear and leaking with ectoplasm.

The Time keeper looked from the child in his arms to the scribe, and he said in a low dangerous voice, " _If she dies, I_ _ **will**_ _end you-"_

Before he could finish a flash of light and a figure completely covered in a Dark Purple robe filled his view.

"Chronus! What is the meaning of this! I find myself missing my scribe and everyone else tell me he's here, now expla-"

"He hurt me!"

Ordinarily the Scribe would have reprimanded for interrupting, but at seeing his state, the Ancient turned towards the Temporal Ghost with fiery eyes.

"You of all should know that attacking an Ancient's Scribe is basically suicide"

Clockwork met the gaze and held Dani tighter to himself.

"You of all should know", He then looked at the Scribe, "that attacking one's charge or child", he looked back at the Ancient, "is reason for war"

In the presence of his Ancient Michael grew bold, "you would start a war for _that_ piece of child? You've lost many charges before have you not-?"

The Glare the Time Master sent had the Scribe physically cowering behind his Ancient.

"Yes I have lost many charges and one of them was Pandora's charge, this has not been the first time I lost a charge but this will very well be the last"

Hearing the Clockwork's words the Ancient instantly whipped around and pinned the Scribe.

"You attacked a Master's Charge? Do you have any sense? What in the world would possess you to attack the child?!"

"I asked him the same thing, only he didn't attack her, threw her in _**Noheinthur"**_

The Ancient turned and looked The Time Keeper dead in the eyes, before looking down at the young girl he held. The Ancient then whipped back once more… and struck the Scribe down.

Michael held his stinging cheek as he lay on the Citadel floor, "My lady-"

"My lady, nothing! She said, "How dare you? Have I taught you nothing? A mere child she is and you threw her into that realm, you have done a disgusting thing Michael-"

"But my lady-"

"No, I will not hear it, I knew of Pandora's charge, as a matter of fact, I wanted the child to be my scribe before you, what you have done… I will not punish you, she is not my charge", The Scribe visibly relaxed, "I will let Chronus decide what do with you", and Michael instantly went into panic.

"My lady please, punish me yourself, anything but him, I beg of you!"

"Very well, you shall be at his beck and call for a millennia", Michael's eyes widened in horror, " you will do everything he says, him or his charges-"

"But-"

"And every complaint extends your servitude, you will miss no days unless I give you that pardon, if you fail to do this it is a further extension, the third time I will consider this treason and you will be executed, do I make myself clear?"

The scribe stayed silent.

"Do I make myself clear?" Repeated the Ancient.

"Y-Yes my lady"

"Good"

She then turned to Clockwork, with robe covered arms held out.

"Give the child to me"

But instead of doing so, the Time Keeper looked at her, while subconsciously pulling the child closer to him.

The Ancient shook her head with a small chuckle.

"Very well, lower yourself so I can heal her"

The Temporal ghost still looked sceptical.

"Fine I will heal her, _if_ you have that retched realm destroyed, get permission under my name if you have to I want it gone, but not by you, send your hound, I want you to make sure that your charges are safe, is that fair?"

This time Clockwork complied without hesitance, with a nod he began gently lowering himself on his knees, while carefully holding the child. The Ancient put her hands on the girl's stomach, a white glow emitted from it and slowly the cuts bruises and ectoplasmic tears and stains removed themselves from the unconscious Dani.

"She is lucky, those were not wounds from the villagers"

"No, she ran into the forest before any of them could see her, but that forest is just as bad as its villagers"

"True", said the Ancient as she placed a stray lock of hair behind the now healed child's ear.

She looked pensive, or as pensive as you can seem when your entire body sans your eyes are hidden by a cloak.

"You would have claimed war for this charge- er any of your charges would you not? One of your many monikers includes Father Time, why do you not have children of your own?"

She had been looking at Dani the entire time and only looked at the Temporal Ghost for his response.

Clockwork chuckled softly, "My charges are all I need, my lady"

The Ancient chuckled aswell, "I thought you might say that, far too young for one of you own aren't you child? Your core is still yet soft, but I am glad, it is rare to find in those with power", she rose and stood near her scribe, who was currently still holding his now swollen cheek, We will be seeing each other more Chronus"

"Of course my lady"

The Ancient the addressed her Scribe, "Your Servitude begins tomorrow with a formal apology to both Chronus and his charge"

"Yes my lady"

With that they both disappeared in a flash of Purple.

Leaving Clockwork alone with his charge.

* * *

After the Ancient and her Scribe left, Clockwork teleported Dani to her room and tucked her in, just in time for two halo like rings to wash over her and revert her into human form. With that done, he teleported into the Observatory.

Let's just say the few Observants that had ordered the child's demise are no longer able to be found and the Time Keeper got full clearance to destroy the realm. All in all it took an hour or two at most and he teleported into his citadel with a cruel smile on his face.

He headed to the kitchen from the viewing area and grabbed a container from off of the table, he had made a batch of cookies the day prior, popping back into the viewing area, he opened a portal and one of his _other_ charges stepped out, wordlessly he offered the other the container, he received a nod of thanks as the he sat down on the purple couch.

Smirking, the Time Master placed a hand on the fiery head.

"Good boy"

The large Phantom huffed.

Clockwork's smirk grew bigger.

"I have a reward for you Dan"

* * *

So yes, Clockwork owned very few things, his Staff, his Citadel and his Title, he would admit open and honest that he tended to be quite possessive when it came to his stuff, so god bless anyone who tried to take those things away and his charges were _his._

* * *

 **AN/: This was what happened before Lap Dog, we'll get to see what happened to Dani soon, or maybe we already have? hehe, Alright, y'all keep guessing where this is going ;)**

 **So like i mentioned before, the rest of the drabbles are all going to be pieces, tiny pieces of a puzzle, and i wanna see how well you guys put them together, _Scared, Names_ , _Lap Dog, It Begins and obviously this one_ are included as these pieces, good luck trying to piece things together. More are on the way, if tell me what you think is happening as either a review or PM me, i'll tell you how close you are ;) Also requests are still open guys.**

 **If all goes well i will also be updating tomorrow, i saw a request a bit late, i saw it after i had typed up this, so i will try to do that request for ya friend :) this one will NOT be a part of the "Pieces arc"**

 **But anyway you guys know the drill, send me your requests, and I'll write 'em, ask me your questions and I'll answer them, send me your reviews and I'll smile like the little nut I am.**

 **Love yall ^-^**


	29. They Know

**AN/: Hey guys, it be Wednesday, you know what that means, _updates!_ Ok so this isn't a part of the Pieces arc, those are coming so don't you worry, this one is a requested drabble, but i think you'll like this one and its Part 2**

 **Enjoy and Review**

 **DISCLAIMER: I do not own Danny Phantom**

* * *

 **They Know**

Today was just not his day, wasn't it?

His head ached and his right eye kept twitching every 3 seconds, to make matters worse it was raining cats and dogs outside. Apparently, the storm would last three days over the Zone. Not that the weather usually mattered to him, the Citadel could handle any type and at times like this the whipping, freezing frenzy of wind only brought a nice cool chill to the interior. So the storm didn't bother him…

 _Dan on the other hand._

For every loud surge of thunder the Large Phantom would growl and from the beam he was precariously draped over, the sound became low and hollow, truly if it were aimed at anyone other than _thunder_ , it might, emphasis on _might_ slightly not sound like a whimpering dog in a Storm.

Clockwork would have left him growling, at the weather of all things, if it weren't for the fact that the thunder made his head hurt and the continuous growling made it all the worse.

"Dan could you stop that?!"

The growling stopped.

Clockwork sighed, good now he had some modicum of silence so concentrate on his wor-

 _ **Thunder clapped in the background**_

The growling began again.

Sighing the Time Master placed a hand at his temple and rolled his eyes. He attempted to stay focused on the Screens in front of him, he succeeded… for a few seconds that is

 _ **A bolt of lightning stuck rather close to the Citadel.**_

The Lair shook slightly with the electrified energy and Clockwork, being like any ghost was connected to his lair, shivered slightly as the electric energy traveled through the Tower, and to an extent through _him_ , the energy left rather quickly though, leaving behind a draining, hollow numbness.

Headache, Dan, thunder and lightning, truly it wasn't his day.

* * *

Dan wasn't having the time of his afterlife either, the fucking thunder kept booming on and on, and for each time it did he slipped bit by bit off the beam that he was so happily lounging on before the hellacious Shakespearian tempest began.

When the Lighting actually struck the tower or _very_ close to it, the Phantom actually jumped, completely unprepared to feel the electricity course through. It was a very good thing that he chose the beam that was over the Purple couch.

When the Lightning struck, instinct having taken over Dan found himself Phasing through the beam, landing quietly on the couch, he quickly looked forward, Clockwork had his back turned, good, he thanked whatever gods that the time Keeper didn't see that embarrassing display, then of course the _Thunder_ started again and he growled at it subconsciously.

"What are you growling at? It's Thunder, don't tell me you're afraid of it?"

Apparently Clockwork gave up on trying to work, seeing as he was standing in front of the Phantom on the couch.

"What are you talking about Oldman? I fear nothing", scoffed Dan.

"Yes, you fear nothing except death, losing and _thunder_ ", countered the Other.

Though Dan did growl through gritted teeth, he did nothing more than glare. Clockwork took this as an affirmative and continued.

"You fear Thunder and yet majority of your pillages and killing sprees were in the rain-"

"I don't fear thunder, I _dislike_ it, big difference-"

The Time Keeper rolled his eyes, " _Sure_ -"

" _It is_ , and I dislike thunder, for your information, because it annoy me and I get angry once annoyed-"

"And your-"

"And for every city of town I destroyed during the rain faced a greater portion of my wrath, if I actually cared I would almost pity the poor fools."

"So what you're telling me is that you went on rampant killing sprees in the rain because you were throwing s temper tantrum? Honestly Dan, a fear is no reason for such a thing", Clockwork had delivered that with such a deadpanned expression that it didn't hit Dan, until the Temporal ghost shook his head slightly, that he was being toyed with.

"I-… you-… you're an ass, you know that?" any attempts to cover up his sputtering were shot as the phantom could feel his cheeks color.

"Mm yes, but you're still the one who's afraid of thunder, now move over", he gestured to the couch but Dan did not move, so Clockwork simply placed his legs over the Phantom's lap as he lay comfortable with his head on the arm of the couch.

"Hey-! Clockwork really?!"

The Temporal ghost shrugged, "My couch"

"Fair enough", with that Dan began to tap lightly on the pair of legs that were draped over him, at this the Time Keeper began to chuckle.

"What's so funny?" asked the flame haired Phantom.

"That's something you and your younger-self share"

"Well it's either that or I snap your legs off-"

"You even try and your core would be crushed before you can blink", Clockwork had said this with a lazy yawn but Dan knew very well that the Time ghost would hold true to his threat. The Phantom swallowed thickly, hoping the other wouldn't sense his apprehension.

"Yeah… sure, so what are you afraid of Oldman?"

"Me? Hmm, not sure actually-"

"What, someone take away your visions?"

"Are you kidding? That would be a blessing, I would finally be able to sleep properly"

Dan rose a brow, "Wait, you see visions in your sleep? How can you tell if they're dreams or not?"

"That", Clockwork raised his right index finger, "is a very good question, I just do, it's probably why I don't sleep much"

The Phantom scoffed, "That and because you're a goddamn workaholic"

The same raised index finger moved in a small circular motion, "That too".

"What about losing your staff?"

"This?" The Time Keeper raised his left hand and inspected the his staff, "Hmm, no actually, no one else can use it but me and the next Time Master, besides, it's not a power source, it's a limiter type conduit"

"So your powers would go crazy without it?", Dan eyed the Staff warily, he knew very well what would happen to him if he touched it again.

"No, not anymore, it was only made like this because I asked for it to made like this, and considering I was too young to be using majority of my powers, it was a very good idea"

"What do you mean by that?"

"What was the first thing you learned to do power wise Dan?"

"Uh, fly I guess?"

"Exactly, its standard that every ghost learn to fly before anything, as for me, I learned to teleport before I could fly-"

"Pfft, you're kidding"

"Not at all, if I jumped 2 feet in the air I ended up in another realm"

"Wait how did you fight? Ground battles?"

"Majority of the time"

"O-ok that's rough", whipping a tear of mirth from his eye the Phantom tried in vain to stop his chuckles, "your enemies could easily have flown away-"

"Actually, none of them were ever able to-"

"How-?"

Clockwork rose a brow, "You are aware that you can be shot down from the sky right?"

"Yeah, but how good is your aim-?"

" _Very"_

Dan whistled.

"So… that means you're afraid of heights?"

"Hardly, I had to jump off, cliff and mountains and Waterfalls, heights were never a problem"

"You were afraid of flying then?"

"Actually no, was more afraid of ending up in a random time and dimension, but after getting my powers under control, neither of those thing were a problem"

"Huh, interesting… is there a fear of not knowing what your fear is"

Clockwork shook his head with a slight chuckle, "I'm not sure about that one, but did you know there is a fear of everything?"

"That and some stupidity of a duck watching your every move or something"

"Yes basically, there's also the fear for…"

And so it continued, the two of them talking about fears, no not their own fears, but of the types of fears themselves, the Phantom and Time Master had talked for about a good three hours before it happened and there they realized that someone else's day was going far worse than theirs.

* * *

"So you're telling me that the fear of long words _is_ a long ass word? Damn that's just savage as fuck, just imagine asking some poor soul with that fear, just like, hey buddy what are you afraid of?"

"The English language… 's called the ironic language.. for a reason…you know", breathed Clockwork, at this point, the Time Master, though still laying down with his legs over Dan's lap, had his right arm draped over his eyes, while his staff was held to his side, loosely under his left palm.

"Huh, makes sense, but you still never answered me, what's your fear?"

"My fear… hmm…"

Dan who was thinking of all the possible fears they had talked about, barely realized that it took more than five seconds for Clockwork to answer. Looking over at the Temporal ghost to see his lips slightly parted and his "breathing" even.

The Phantom deadpanned, he _should_ push the elder off the couch for falling asleep on him, but for some reason he didn't, he chalked it up to pity, he knew very well that the Time Keeper hardly slept, he himself had admitted it earlier in their conversation.

Rolling his eyes, the large Phantom decided to let the Time ghost be, but it seemed that the weather didn't agree with that. Not 15 minutes after Clockwork had fallen asleep, a _**loud**_ boom of thunder followed by an _instant_ flash of lightning shook the Citadel.

Dan who had all but forgotten about the weather tensed, but Clockwork...

The Time Master visibly jumped, Dan had to stifle his laughter as Clockwork ended up slightly floating cross-legged over the arm rest, the very same one he was using a pillow no more than three seconds ago, his eyes were wide and blue and his aura flared about, temporal energy manipulated the long white locks that whipped around him like an angry octopus in an attempt to protect the startled Time Keeper.

Clockwork blinked, one…two… three times before calming down and lowering onto the arm rest, he ran his free hand through his hair to dismiss the energy and to make it somewhat presentable again, he was very aware of Dan's snickering, his slight purple cheeks were an attest to that.

"So you _can_ be surprised"

"Never said I couldn't", still sitting cross-legged on the arm rest Clockwork yawned and stretched before going back to his hair.

"So what was up with", he gestured to Clockwork's hair, which currently refused to be tamed.

At this The Time Keeper scratched his head in embarrassment, something his hair obviously didn't like as a few of the ends reached up to smack at his hand.

"I didn't expect to fall asleep-"

"Comfortable were we?" Smirked Dan

Clockwork rolled his eyes as he stood up, "very, but before I get too comfortable, I'm heading to bed".

"Oh, so what, I wasn't a good pillow?"

"Foot rest you mean, but no you were excellent, I'm going to bed unless you'd rather not move till tomorrow?"

"You taking a day off today then?"

"A _break_ , besides I don't think I'll get any work done like-this…" The end of his sentence drifted off and the Time Keeper made a curious line towards the door, Dan followed right behind him equally confused.

"Clock? What-?"

Dan was cut off when Clockwork opened the door and Dan found himself with an arm full of shivering Dani.

"Squirt? What the hell?"

The child didn't answer his question, seemingly hysteric.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'msorry, I'msorry, I'msorry,"

Dan quite frankly did not know what to do, he wasn't fond of contact, or people or crying people, worse crying children, screams yes, crying was a no, but no matter what he did he couldn't pry the clone off of him. Thankfully Clockwork did his Father Time thing and got her to calm down slightly.

"Danielle, what are you sorry for?"

"I'm so sorry, they know-" and just like that a flip switched and the child went hysteric and latched back onto Dan again, "They know!, They know, they know, _theyknow, theyknow, theyknow_ "

Dan grimaced. "Squirt, who knows and what do they know?"

Whatever Dani was going to say next was cut off when the Citadel Door banged open and Danny Phantom came in just as Hysteric as his clone.

"Clockwork! They know! They know, they know, theyknow, theyknow, theyknow!"

The aforementioned Time Master deadpanned as two of his charges were currently dripping wet, shivering and panicking. The Time keeper had placed his cloak on Danny while Dan had done the same with Dani.

Sighing Clockwork grabbed Danny by the shoulder as the distressed Phantom had begun to pace.

"Daniel, calm down, tell me, who are they and what do they know?"

"M-my parents, they know we're Phantoms"

 _ **The proverbial record broke.**_

* * *

 **AN/:** **Ok that's Part 1 of "They Know", Part 2 will be called "Illness" as requested. As a matter of fact this was a mash up of two requests"** _ **Poly**_ **wanted some Dan with thunder, while MuffinOverLord8 requested Danny and Dani freaking out about the Fenton Parents finding out their Phantoms.**

 _ **Tsukiko K,**_ **your request is a main part of the part 2, and** _ **MuffinOverLord8**_ **the Fenton Parents do come in this one as well so stay tuned.**

 **Ok guys with that said, this and "Illness" will NOT be a part of pieces, these two are totally separate from those. Speaking of Pieces** _ **Kimera20**_ **and** _ **GoldGuardian2418**_ **are starting to piece stuffs together, you're warm you two, come on, keep trying ;) this goes for anyone else trying to figure out the** **"Pieces arc" XD.**

 **But anyway you guys know the drill, send me your requests, and I'll write 'em, ask me your questions and I'll answer them, send me your reviews and I'll smile like the little nut I am.**

 **Love yall ^-^**


	30. Illness

**AN/: Hey guys, it be _Friday Morning?_ WELP at least I updated? heheh ^-^' Anyway, really sorry for the delay, but here it is Part 2 of _"They Know"_**

 **Enjoy and Review**

 **DISCLAIMER: I do not own Danny Phantom**

* * *

 **Illness**

He tossed and turned his head, in an anything if not restless sleep, obviously fevered if the sweat plastered hair, sheet and shirt had anything to say, the cold cloth on his fore head gave it away as well. With each toss of his head, the boy in the bed would mutter something unintelligible, between those mutterings, there was always a pause in which the ill boy would cough, harsh, thick and wet, with every cough, he shuddered and shivered, for every shiver, he gripped the sheet tighter, the tighter he gripped the sheet, the more he tossed under it, and so goes the cycle.

With the cycle of misery still going strong, plus the addition of a high fever, it was no wonder the boy remained in unconsciousness, if he would somehow manage to wake, he would hear muted voices coming from outside the room he was in, but alas, the ill child did not open an eye and the voices continued their conversation.

* * *

"…and then I fell"

"Squirt what in the world would possess you to mess with him? You're fucking tiny"

"Hey!" Huffed the Phantom girl indignantly, "I got rid of him and his cronies, all by myself-"

"Yes and you passed out afterward, did you not?"

Dani winced, her head ducking down sheepishly. Clockwork had this impassive look on his face, though his voice didn't waver from its usual monotone, his ghostly aura is what made every fiber of her being want to shiver and flee.

As much as she wanted to do the latter, it was obvious that it was her fault, running away would make things worse especially given how Danny's con-, her eyes lit up slightly in realization _Danny_ , no wonder she could feel the Temporal energy waving around like crazy, the aura that was usually hidden was coated in emotion, so anxious it could be felt, Clockwork was **worried**. She wondered vaguely if Dan could feel it too.

Her realization lead her to guilt, this was all her fault, The Fentons know Danny's secret, Dan was pissed at her (at least she thought so), Clockwork… well he looked calm, but the way the temporal energy was whipping around, he was practically having a mini panic attack and Danny… _she didn't know._

She had been recounting her story to Dan when Clockwork interjected, having taken Danny to the Med-wing after he had suddenly collapsed, the Time Keeper was the only one who knew of his Charge's condition and the fact that there was temporal energy rolling off him in anxious waves, led Dani to believe that her original was in more trouble than they bargained for.

* * *

"I'm tellin' ya Maddie, it has to be a trick, there's no way!"

"Jack, I- I don' t know, maybe…", she wanted to agree, oh how she truly did, but the evidence was there, they were the same height, they had the same voice, body structure, come to think of it, _they had the same face_. The blue jumpsuit wearing woman had addressed these to her husband and he countered with more.

"They've been spotted at different times…the ghost could have copied Danny's face…who's the girl that looks like him?...Ghost human hybrids weren't possible", all these thoughts ran through both of their heads. The scientists within them stated the facts, the evidence was there, _it had to be a trick_ , but the niggling feeling, that parental intuition, no matter how small, held on to the tiny spark in which that it would explain their sons secretiveness, his late curfews, his bad grades and the occasional limps and bruises he would attempt to hide, it was a small hope and a foolish one, but was it?

Utterly confused and torn in battle between choosing their head or heart. Jack ambled over to pull his wife in an embrace, it offered little comfort and no answers, but support had always been a necessity for the Fenton duo.

Having looked everywhere for _their_ Danny when Phantom flew off with the ghost girl, _**turned human**_ , in hand, in the end they tried and failed at locating their son, Jazz was away and neither Sam nor Tucker were answering their phones, so there they stood now, in the lab leaning together on one of the many metallic tables, stuck with the evidence versus the shred of hope and what that hope could _possibly_ mean.

* * *

"So… um, wh-what's wrong with him?"

There was a sigh. All three of them were now in the Med-wing in front of the bed Danny was laying on.

"The easiest way to explain it, would be to call it the ghostly equivalent to Pneumonia", Clockwork paused when Dan raised a brow and Dani looked downright confused, pinching the bridge of his nose, the Time Master reiterated, "the storm, he got sick from the rain-"

To this day the Time Keeper won't admit, that the scowl Danielle directed his way had him taken aback.

"I know what Pneumonia is Clockwork, I'm just confused as to how Danny got sick and I didn't when we were _both_ in the storm"

Dan then piped in, "Yeah, why is he on his way to becoming full ghost", he gestured to the prone Danny Phantom on the bed, the gloved hand then moved to the clone, "and she's not?"

"That would be because of you"

"What?!" exclaimed both Phantoms.

"The first thing you did when you came in here Danielle, was latch onto Dan, his core temperature is the one of the reasons you're not currently in the bed next to Daniel's"

"I still don't get why the kids sick, he's an ice core for fuck sake-"

"Language Dan, and yes Daniel's ice core should prevent things like this from happening, but it's also because of it that he's ill"

"Wait you said 'one of the reasons', what else would have caused it?", the clone looked from Danny to Clockwork, every time she looked at her "cousin" guilt ate more and more at her.

"Well that depends, taking a look, it seems like Daniel's core has been under quite a bit of stress lately-"

The Time Keeper was cut off by Danny coughing, the boy held a curled fist to his mouth, he continued coughing, thick, harsh and wet, he shook with the fit, so much so that the cold cloth fell, after a good minute of two, his fit died down and the boy slumped back as he was before, when the fist pulled away, everyone winced, they could see the ectoplasm coating it. Clockwork had been prepared for this it seems, as he moved towards a small table to the left of the bed, pulling out a wipe from a small white container he easily wiped the ectoplasm of his unconscious charge's hand.

Dan took a step back, for some reason seeing his younger self like this made him feel… uncomfortable, he could wish pain, torture and death on anyone, but never sickness, he chalked it up to wanting his victims dead by his own hands and not something micro-fucking-scopic to one-up him. Danny coughed again, Dan frowned.

"A little stress shouldn't knock him this far down"

"Maybe it's all the ghost fighting?", Dani was looking guiltier and guiltier by the second, in any other Situation Dan would have teased the child about it, strangely he didn't.

Clockwork, still near the little table, was currently checking a chart with Danny's stats, his aura grew heavier, biting his lip for a split second, the Time Master answered the previous question, without looking up, "That would be the case Danielle, but it would seem like Daniel was fighting with a ghost _opposite_ his core type-"

"The fire!" the clone's eyes were wide, Dan raised a brow, seeing this the young Phantom did her best to explain, "t-there was a fire just yesterday, this weird fire ghost had started it, I took care of the fires here while Danny fought him in amity, apparently it burned a good section of Casper High too", she winced slightly when she felt the wave of energy roll off the Temporal ghost.

"Hmm, hot and cold don't mix squirt, and hot and cold plus _rain_ , is just asking for disaster", the flame haired Phantom then directed his question to Clockwork, "so stress, contrasting temperatures and rain, anything else?", deadpanned Dan.

Clockwork looked up and at them, " _lightning"_

"But he didn't get hit by lightning-" piped Dani.

"Maybe not, but he flew a little too close to where it struck-"

"What's that got anything to do with-"

"In the ghost Zone lightning is a bit more deadly, its charged with the usual electric energy plus the ectoplasmic energy from the atmosphere, lightning had struck the tower and the energy flowed through, you both having flown through the storm must have felt it, that energy pulls more energy but in turn it also leaves some behind, so not only is Daniel battling the effects of a cold and two different core temperatures but he's also dealing with _foreign energy_ "

Dani gulped, Dan remained impassively quiet.

"I had mentioned before that it's similar to Pneumonia, just with the far worse symptoms, _**Omaeuen**_ is the name for what ails young Daniel here, he should be fine in a couple of days depending…"the Time Master's voice trailed off, he didn't need to say it, sighing silently he turned to brush the white bangs from where they were plastered and reapplied the cold cloth to the boy's forehead. Danny had remained in ghost form, the illness and the fact that his human body probably wouldn't withstand it was what kept him as Phantom even in unconsciousness.

Dani floated silently over to the Time ghost and placed a comforting hand on his shoulder.

"How high is the possibility that he doesn't make it?"

Clockwork didn't answer her, but the look he gave her from the side glance was answer enough, she gave a small in morbid acceptance.

"Is this why you're so worried?", she whispered.

The Time Keeper raised a brow.

"Your aura, its freaking out-"

This time Clockwork turned to her, wide eyed, "you can sense it?!"

Dani's own eyes widened, _so Dan can't sense it, then how was she able to?_ She was pulled out of her musings when Clockwork addressed her, "We'll talk about how you can sense it later", he then turned to Dan, raising his voice slightly from the whisper it was in, " for now I think it's best to leave Daniel to rest."

"Fine by me Oldman"

Dan exited the Med-room first, followed by the other two.

* * *

The second they stepped out an Observant's face came in to view on one of the Time Screens.

"Clockwork!"

"Yes?"

"Why have you not….!"

And so it went the Observant ranting about things Clockwork was sure he did, or things he should have done sooner, the Time Master did wince slightly when remembering that majority of the things the Observant was spouting, could have been done during the time he had fallen asleep.

When the thirty minute mark hit, Dan grew tired of listening and simply flew up to a beam and sprawled over it like he usually did, Dani watched him go but opted to stay by the Time Keepers side, having also grown tired of the giant eyeball's drawling she sat down cross-legged, slightly leaning on Clockwork's leg, the Time Master gave her a quick amused glance before redirecting his attention back to his "employer."

At 2 hours and fifteen minutes in, Dan was snoring, Dani was nodding of and Clockwork just looked downright irritated. All he wanted to do was turn around, walk away and leave the annoying thing screeching. _He got his wish._

"Furthermore you should have-", the Observant was cut off when a particular sound echoed through the Citadel.

Dan awoke instantly and Dani snapped out of whatever trance she was in, both Phantoms looked at each other, one looking down, the other up.

"Clockwork what was-"

"Forgive me for this, but my other charge isn't feeling well and I'm currently babysitting-"

"Clockwork, you know-!"

 _ **BEEP**_!

Clockwork ended the transmission. At this Dani giggled and Dan rolled his eyes. The Time Keeper then headed towards the Med-wing, the closer he got the louder the sound of retching became.

"Welp, the kid's up", stated Dan matter of factly.

True to the word Danny was indeed "up", sitting on the edge of the bed, hugging a silver bucket which his head was currently buried in.

Dani and Dan stayed at the edge of the door frame, while Clockwork easily maneuvered back to the little table and grabbed some wipes in one hand then turned to rub Danny's back with the other, after about a good three minutes of puking and an additional two for dry heaving, Danny finally turned, to which Clockwork offered him the wipes, the boy graciously accepted them.

It was obvious that he wasn't completely awake.

"Cl-clockwork?"

The Time Master gave him a patient nod.

" 't … hurts.."

"What does?"

"…e'rythin'…"

Clockwork smiled slightly, "You'll be fine, rest"

"…'m dizzy…"

Danny's eyes closed in a grimace as Clockwork carefully removed the bucket from his hand and layed him down. The grimace turned scowl, the scowl turned passive and a beat or two later the passive face dropped as lips parted to make way for raspy scratchy breathing.

Though the breathing wasn't ideal, the boy needed his rest. The Time Master covered the boy with the sheet, seeing as it was clean and Danny was shivering. He placed his gloved hand on the pale forehead only for Danny to move away in his sleep.

This caused the Time Master to chuckle.

"Will he be ok?"

If he didn't have as much self-control as he did this would have been the second time for the day that he jumped, but instead he only tensed, slightly.

"He'll be fine Danielle, it's amusing though"

"What is?" piped Dan from his left

"Look", he gestured to Danny, there was frost slowly covering the boy's chest, the child shivered but was also pulling the sheet off, mumbling something along the lines of "..hot… 's relly hot.."

"He's cold but heat bothers him, it's amusing because it's similar to how I behaved when I ended up with _**Omaeuen,**_ I was cold but anything with heat I avoided _ **-**_ "

"Wait you had this before?!" Dani asked wide eyed

"Yes I-"

"Wai-wait, you got struck by fucking lightning?"

Clockwork rolled his eyes, "Straight through Dan, but that wasn't the only thing, I was fighting another being opposite my core type"

"Wait what's the opposite of your core type?"

"Yeah Oldman, your Time and Space aren't those the opposite of each other?"

"No my core is both Temporal _and_ Spatial, and it's not exactly my opposite core type, more the opposite core affinity"

"So what is the opposite of your core affinity?"

"Heat, well high heat", he said plainly.

"What?!" both Phantoms blinked.

"Yes surprisingly, but my core affinity _is_ cold and the opposite of that is obviously heat"

"Ok I can see why heat is the opposite", Dani held a finger to her chin, "but why is cold your core affinity?"

"Space is cold dear, and pause time long enough, _everything_ gets cold"

Whatever anyone wanted to say next was cut off by Danny and his coughing fit.

This fit had lasted longer than the others and with the amount of ectoplasm Danny coughed up, Dani couldn't handle the thought, _this was all her fault,_ she walked outside, she made it a few feet before sinking down, hiding her head on her knees, her shoulder started shaking even before the tears came.

Before she could even sob a hand clamped down on her shoulder, the sudden action caused her to jump, she raised her head, watery eyes looking up to see firm red ones, "Dan?"

"Stop it"

"Wha?"

"I said stop it, you're being pathetic, you know I hate anything I deem pathetic, you guilty? Fix it"

"But I can't-"

"And how the hell do you know you can't? Did you even fucking try?"

The clone opened her mouth to rebut, she blinked, then wisely closed it.

"Thought so, squirt you're a Phantom, you shouldn't be guilty about anything, we get what we want, you feel bad about this? Fix it so you can't possibly feel bad about it anymore"

The child sat pensively, before nodding and flying out the Citadel. She was going to fix this.

* * *

"Easy Daniel, just like that, breathe"

"..can't…urts"

"You need to try"

"….ani… she.. my parnts…"

"Dannielle's fine, we'll figure out what to do about your parents when the time comes, but for now you need your rest."

"… but… you…"

"What about me? I'll be here for as long as you need Daniel."

The fever was making the poor child delirious and more childish than ever.

"..prmise?.."

It took him a few seconds, but when he figured the word, Clockwork gave a small chuckle.

"Yes Daniel, I promise"

* * *

Dan walked back into the Med-room to see Clockwork laying his younger-self back down again. When the boy fell back asleep the Time Master whirled on him.

 _"Dan"_

"What! You heard her before, she took down Walker and his cronies all by herself!"

"You do know, you just sent her out into a storm and to the house of a pair of armed ghost hunters right?"

"What, it's tough love, it'll make her stronger"

"Oh? And since when were you interested in making her stronger?"

"When she came all clingy, if she wants to be in my premises, she needs to get stronger"

"And why is that?"

"Because, she could very well be a better opponent than my younger self"

"Really?", asked Clockwork, now bemusedly intrigued.

"The kid has Cryokinesis and learned the Ghostly wail 12 years before time, I don't know about you but when shit hits the fan I want her on my side"

"Didn't you just say you wanted her as an opponent? Why would she be on your side?"

"Hey underling works too", the Phantom shrugged nonchalantly as he turned towards the door.

Clockwork rolled his eyes, he looked down at Danny, brushing stray hairs from his face.

"You shouldn't doubt him yet, Danielle will grow stronger yes, but bear in mind, Daniel is her original", he looked up to notice Dan leaving, "where are you going?"

"Bed, I was nice today, that took a lot of energy, you stay and babysit or what not" with that he gave a small off shrugging salute and left.

Clockwork simply shook his head.

* * *

The Time Master stayed by his charge's side, diligently wetting and reapplying the cold cloth to the boy's forehead and constantly covering him with the sheet, despite the fact that the phantom kept kicking it off. Danny had thrown up twice more with in a two hour span, pure bile and thick ectoplasm, Clockwork frowned at the amount, but it was a sign the boy was getting better, he only had three coughing fits within the two hours so the Time Keeper predicted that Danny would be back to normal within in five days to a week max.

He chuckled slightly as he recovered the boy with the sheet, he now knew how Nocturne and Pandora felt whenever he was sick, shaking his head slightly he reapplied the cold cloth back onto the sweat plastered forehead of his charge.

Surprisingly the boy tossed his head, eyes open, blurry dull green, Clockwork took a slow step back, he wasn't sure how the boy would react in his state.

The eyes searched the room, seemingly not seeing anything in there, he was seeing _something_.

"Give her back", the broken words were croaked out, voice cracked and scratchy.

Clockwork stood out of the line of sight, he needed to know who Danny was seeing in his fevered hallucination.

"Walker, give _her_ back"

Ah, so it was Walker the Time Keeper instantly guessed that Danielle was the "her", he placed a hands slowly on the boy's shoulder, well aware that the boy was fighting foreign energy, he sent a small flit of his own temporal energy into the boy, it was familiar, he should respond to it-

"Clockwork?"

 _There it is._

"Hello Daniel"

The boy's eyes cleared for a moment, he saw the Time Master but not the Warden, he sat up and looked around wide eyed.

"Walker! Clockwork he has Dani!"

Clockwork gave a little more energy.

"No he doesn't, he was never here Daniel, Danielle is fine, do you remember how you got here?"

The Phantom boy frowned, eyebrows knitting together in thought, then it hit him, Dani, his parents, the storm, the lightning in front of him, the Citadel, Dan Clockwork, Darkness.

Danny held his gloved hand to his forehead, "Yeah, I 'member"

"Good, you're fine and Danielle's not with Walker", the Time Keeper refused to tell the boy that his clone went to confront his parents about his identity, he didn't want to add more stress onto the child.

Danny nodded slightly as Clockwork helped him lay back down. The Cold cloth was put back on his forehead and the sheet was drawn up to his shoulder, he thought he thanked the Temporal ghost but he wasn't sure, actually he wasn't sure what happened after his head hit the pillow.

Clockwork smiled slightly at the sleeping phantom, removing his hand from the boy's shoulder, he shook it slightly, his palm tingled and his fingers were numb, he had given Danny a bit of his energy, though it helped calm the boy down it left him feeling a bit lethargic, after all the lightning that struck the Tower _did_ drain quite a bit of his energy as well.

He didn't mind though, he was Father Time and his charges are his children, eh plus their friends he "adopted", Sighing he grabbed a stool from somewhere in the room and sat by Danny's bedside. What wouldn't a good father do for his children?

* * *

 **AN/: heyo, so sorry about the late posting, but net's been off and on for a bit, it was completely down Wednesday and it came on around 1am-ish on Thursday, i was already ded , so I had to post it today, i legit just woke up, i'm posting this at like 9am rn XD. So that's it for Illness, I can probably continue this if you like so keep an eye out, next week should be another one from the Pieces arc, but it depends, if I get any requests I'll be posting those first.**

 **Hope** _**Tsukiko K**_ **and** _**MuffinOverLord8**_ **liked this one and I hope you all enjoyed. Also Kim the creatures are a bit important but that's not quite what they're there for, keep putting the pieces together though,** **keep trying ;) this goes for anyone else trying to figure out the** **"Pieces arc" XD.**

 **But anyway you guys know the drill, send me your requests, and I'll write 'em, ask me your questions and I'll answer them, send me your reviews and I'll smile like the little nut I am.**

 **Love yall ^-^**


	31. Erased

**AN/: Hey guys, it be _Wednesday!_ Net's been fixed Huzzah! ^-^' Anyway, really sorry for the delay of the previous chapter, I made sure this one was on time. This _is_ a part of the Pieces arc, if your'e good you can put majority of the puzzle together, let's see who can ;)**

 **Enjoy and Review**

 **DISCLAIMER: I do not own Danny Phantom**

* * *

 **Erased**

Darkness.

Pure pitch, inky and cold.

 _A flash of white._

A chilling laughter.

 **Black.**

White.

 **Black.**

 _White fangs._

 **Black.**

White.

 **Black.**

 _The fangs and laughter echo._

 **Black**

White.

Flashes, fast and continuous.

 **Black.**

White.

 **Black.**

White.

Black and White.

The contrast colors blur.

They form a figure.

Black and White.

A small blur.

The blur moves fast, no _faster_ , streaking across-?

 _Across what?_

Black and White over Blue, passed Orange and Yellow.

Black and White over Green and Purple.

Rapidly mov- _flying_ , over the other colors?

The colors!

 _What colors do you fly over?_

Blue? Earth possibly.

Green and Purple? Of course the Ghost Zone!

 _So the Blur flies in both earth and the ghost zone, that makes sense right?_

Flying over Green and Purple, then White and Blue.

 **White.**

White formed hands and grabbed the blur.

Like a mother cat to its kittens. The blur was yanked up from the nape and thrown to the Yellow.

The Black and White thing- leaked Red and Green.

 **Red.**

 _ **PURPLE and RED**_ _!_ The colors looked furious, wisping off like fire.

White cowered away.

Purple and Red attacked White?

 _There was a flash._

White was gone.

The entire "room" was Black.

Then in a blink, the colors came back, this time in humanoid shapes, like shadows of people.

The bleeding blur, was now cradled by Purple and Red _and_ Red and Purple.

The colors obviously similar but very different.

Red and Purple brought back White.

The edges of the Purple and Red shadow figure began to wisp like fire again.

White cowered behind the Red and Purple Shadow.

 _A Flash._

 _Another colour._

Where in the world were these Colors coming from?

What did they mean?

Another Purple? No it looks a bit different _**Violet**_.

The Colour Violet appeared, but none of the other colors payed it any mind.

Violet held its "eyes".

It slowly removed its hands and looked at the other colors.

 _Everything changed._

Everything moved in **reverse.**

White moved from behind Red and Purple and The wisps of the Purple and Red faded out.

Red and Purple "shooed" White away.

Then it went beside Purple and Red and Cradled the bleeding blur.

 _A Flash._

Red and Purple was gone.

White straightened up from cowering, Purple and Red stepped back, flame like wisps died off.

 _Another flash_

The Red and Green that the blur bled, returned to its body.

The blur then went up as if pulled, its nape ended up held by White's had as it was moved out of yellow and "thrown" to the Blue and White.

In the Blue and White the blur flew backwards into the Green and Purple, it continued flying that way as everything rewinded.

It all happened in seconds, a _**rewind.**_

 _A flash._

All the colors burned away into white.

The "room" was now completely white, with the exception of the Violet and the Purple and Red Shadow figures.

 _ **Erased.**_

Violet was on its knees panting, just as shocked as the Purple and Red figure.

It came towards Violet, the panting figure scrambled backwards.

The Purple and Green figure seemed to mouth _"what did you do?"_

Violet shook its head.

The _room_ then began to shake, from white it turned black in a _**blink**_.

Out came the white fangs and the laughter. The fangs charged straight at Violet, who covered its head with its arms in fear.

After feeling no pain Violet slowly uncurled to see the fangs lodged in what seemed like a blue force field, the Purple and Red figure had its hand out, and it was glowing the same blue as the field.

The fangs then dislodged itself from the field and went to attack the one who prevented it from getting its prey.

The Fangs lunged at the Purple and Red figure.

 _There was a flash._

The Violet shadow lay unmoving, it bled red, the Purple and Red figure bled green.

Red and Green slowly stained the floor of the room

 **Red and Green.**

 **Re-** _Green_.

 _ **Green.**_

It seeped slowly covering the entire room.

 **GREEN.**

The fangs came flying out of a Green Black portal.

 _ **The room was green.**_

The Fangs and the laughter.

 _ **It turned Black.**_

* * *

"-rk"

"Clk-rk"

"Clockwork!"

 **Crimson eyes snapped open.**

"Finally awake, I was beginning to wonder if you'd sleep for another 3 days"

"Three days?" croaked the Time Master, slowly sitting up from the bed.

Apparently he was in the Med wing of the Citadel, he was about to ask why, when a flash of pain caused him to place his hand on the bridge of his nose.

Eyes squeezed tightly shut as visions shot their way through his mind's eye.

Nocturne stood there for a minute, patiently waiting for his friend to snap out of it, the "recap" as he liked to call it, did tend to hurt.

"You good?"

Clockwork put down his hand and blinked a few times "Yeah".

He always hated when that happed, honestly to him sometimes the visions were of ... _**colors**_...

With wide eyes the Time Keeper got out of the bed and headed for the screen room, a concerned Nocturne right behind.

"Clockwork, slow down, you shouldn't even be out of bed!"

The Temporal ghost continued his march, not saying a word. Nocturne had tried to grab him but he moved just out of reach.

When they reached the Screen room, Pandora was there, watching the timelines, just as she had been for the past three days.

"Clockwork! You're awake!"

He ignored her and walked up to one of the screens.

Pan frowned slightly but stood silent as she watched her friend place his hand on the screen, the images began to change, they were so fast that both she and Nocturne had to look away.

When she finally looked back, she was just in time to catch the Time Keeper as he fell.

"Clockwork?!"

"They're gone", he mumbled, face pained.

Nocturne and Pan shared a look.

The Dreamweaver spoke.

"What's gone Clock-?"

Clockwork shook his head, placing a hand to it to futilely stem the pain. The White noise was deafening, the pain travelled like liquid fire throughout his body, but nothing could compare to the _feeling_ of it in his head, he lay back on Pan's chest, pain far too great for him to support himself.

"Not gone, _**Erased**_ ", the Time Master spoke through gritted fangs.

The pain was becoming even more excruciating and Clockwork curled deeper into Pan's arms. Pandora and Nocturne frowned at the static picture shown on the Time screen, it was **Blank**. They shared another look at each other and then at their pained friend.

* * *

At the Manson residence, young Samantha lay groaning, the pain from her migraine was intense, sure she's handled worse but sleeping it off seemed like a _wonderful_ idea and her mother left her alone.

Apparently Pamela used to have migraines too, so genetic, _thanks mom._

So here she was, under a Black and Violet blanket that she and her grandmother knitted together. Grandma Ida had said that she decided on the colors because it was the colors of her eyes.

Of course Sam shook her head, her eyes were nothing special and right now they just hurt, so she shut her Violet eyes and faded into the _**Black.**_

* * *

 **AN/: heyo, so how confused are you guys? Did you get it? If not, don't worry, they're more were this came from, trust me, you guys are gonna love this, I know two really cool peeps have been trying to put the pieces together, they're getting there, Hot _not_ Warm but ****keep putting the pieces together though,** **keep trying ;) this goes for anyone else trying to figure out the** **"Pieces arc", I really want your input on this and the drabbles in general.**

 **Of course other than the obvious grammar and spelling mistakes, but please feel free to criticism those too, I want to get better at writing and I won't learn unless I get the constructive criticism am I right?**

 **On the plus side Classes are cancelled for me tomorrow, so any requests given tonight will be posted tomorrow and even Friday as well, so take advantage of this guys.**

 **But anyway you guys know the drill, send me your requests, and I'll write 'em, ask me your questions and I'll answer them, send me your reviews and I'll smile like the little nut I am.**

 **Love y'all ^-^**


	32. Sleep Over

**Hey guys, it be _Wednesday!_ Sorry for the delay Kim it kept getting deleted, but because it took so long, i'm making it a two parter and guess what This _is_ a part of the Pieces arc, the last chapter left you guys a lil' stumped, here's a hint, check the colors and what no _who_ the represent ;)**

 **Enjoy and Review**

 **DISCLAIMER: I do not own Danny Phantom**

* * *

 **Sleep Over**

"Um, maybe we should leave"

"Hey this was you're idea! Stick with it"

"I don't know, maybe she's right Tuck-"

"What are you guys mumbling about- oh"

Sam entered the Screen Room of the Citadel last, Dani, Tucker and Danny were before her and all of them stopped at what they saw.

Strangely enough for being in the Screen Room it wasn't the screens that they were looking at, really it was the Purple couch that was _always_ conveniently placed in the room.

Well... it was the person on the couch they were staring at, usually the one in front of the Screens, it was odd for the little group to see him like this.

Clockwork, Master of Time, lay asleep, stretched out fully, on the couch, his hood was down and his white hair splayed semi-neatly around his head.

His left arm was draped over his stomach and in his left hand his staff was held loosely. The arm rose slightly with every "breath" the sleeping ghost took.

The teenagers all shot a questioning glance at Dani, who winced before tentatively approaching the couch and her sleeping mentor, the others followed closely behind in support.

The Phantom girl reached down to wake him but before her hand reached his shoulder...

She froze, her body couldn't move, her skin began to prickle and something told her to look up. She did, only to see a vicious amount of blue energy, by the gasps behind her she could guess that the others were just as stuck as she was.

She looked down in time to see Clockwork open his eyes...

Blue, Completely Blue and _**glowing**_.

Dani reared back in fright, well she tried to, she and the others squeezed their eyes shut, bracing for the giant mass of energy to come crashing down on them.

And crash it did.

* * *

Feeling no pain they open their eyes slowly. Clockwork was sitting up, he had his hand out, stopping the energy mere inches from their heads, with a motion flick of his out stretched fingers, he dismissed the Temporal Energy.

His eyes were back to the normal Crimson but they were wide and panicked.

"Are you alright?!"

The children nodded stiffly, barley registering that they could move again.

Clockwork ran a hand through his hair, it was moving around slightly, still very much outlined with the blue energy.

"... Sorry ... I-", he paused, he looked at each of them again "...are you sure you're all alright? No one hurt? "

His eyes were still panicked but they were filled with more worry than anything.

Danny cleared his throat uncomfortably, "Uh, yeah Clockwork, we're ...ok?" Phantom's voice trailed off and he rubbed the back of his neck nervously.

Clockwork sighed, placing a hand to his eyes, "...honestly..." he murmured.

"Are you ok?"

Clockwork gave a side glance at Dani, who was somehow now sitting beside him on the couch.

"Yeah man, you went all Sans on us there"

The Time keeper raised a brow.

"It's a videogame character", clarified the techno geek.

"Ah, I'm fine, I just- I wasn't expecting visitors-"

"You can say that again", called Sam with a small chuckle. She too then sat on the couch beside Dani.

"I didn't sense any of you at all", admitted the Time Keeper.

"The door kinda opened on its own-" Danny was cut off by Clockwork.

"You've all been here so many times the Citadel simply recognizes you", he sighed before continuing, and "I really didn't sense you at all until Danielle tried to touch me and even then-"

"Yeah, what was up with that?" questioned Tucker.

"…It's, well, to answer your question it's a defence mechanism of sorts, helps if I'm attacked in my sleep-"

"Wai-wait, who in their right mind would want to attack you?" Asked Danny incredulously.

Clockwork scratched at his hair, " you are aware that I'm the second youngest Ghost Council member right?" The children nodded, "Well I was also named the youngest Time Master, some beings didn't appreciate 'a child being in charge'," he air quoted, "so I've been victim assassination attempts more often than not, come to think of it, so have Nocturne and Pandora."

"Really? Why?"

Sam smacked him on the arm, "Danny?!" she said sternly.

"Ow! What?!"

Clockwork Chuckled, "It's quite alright Samantha", he smiled a bit when the Goth girl growled for using he full name, "Its simple really Daniel, we are and possibly will ever be the youngest 'Masters', as I mentioned majority of our "elders" aren't too fond of that, they're still not too fond of it but now that we're older they can't do much"

"Oh man that's rough, that's almost as ba-", Tucker got cut off by a purple portal opening a few feet away from him. Out stepped the Master of Dreams.

* * *

Nocturne raised a brow, instantly on alert, something was off, Clockwork's aura was all over the place.

"What Happened? Was there an attack?"

Dani spoke, head ducking between her shoulders, "Uh…well… there was an attack?" the girl made and "eh" type motion with her hands, Nocturne rolled his eyes.

He looked towards his friend, who was currently sporting a faded blush of purple, he could see it even though the Time Keeper was looking away from him. The Dreamweaver put the pieces together.

"Let me guess, he was asleep, one of you woke him and his powers freaked out?"

All four children nodded.

Nocturne sighed, "Thought so", he moved towards the couch and placed a hand on Clockwork's forehead, said Time Master promptly smacked it away when it lingered a nano second too long.

"Well at least you don't have a fever, the Migraine gone?"

Clockwork shrugged his shoulders slightly, "for now at least, they come and go"

Nocturne winced in pity of his friend, "it would help if you slept it of a little longer, you've only been asleep for what? Half an hour at the most?"

"Something like that-"

"Honestly, you're such a child when you get like this-"

"You're far worse than I'll ever be"

"Mhm sure, anyway Pan's coming with more- speak of the devil"

Just like Nocturne, Pan sensed Clockwork's aura, but unlike the Dreamweaver, she instantly figured out the situation. She gave a small smile to the children before walking up to Clockwork and placing her hand on his forehead, her hand was also batted away.

"Honestly Clockwork, I told you it would dullen your senses-"

"Yes, yes, but you didn't tell me it would make me drowsy"

Pandora furrowed her brows.

"It's not supposed to, but you can blame Nocturne for that"

The Clockwork rolled his eyes, "Of course".

The Dreamweaver shrugged, "hey it's what I'm here for", Pan reached out and smacked him on the arm.

"Ow! What it's true"

"What made you drowsy Clockwork?" piped Dani quietly.

"Drowsy? He was _**out**_ - _ **cold**_ when we got here"

"Thank you Tucker", deadpanned the Time Master.

Nocturne decided to take it upon himself to embarrass his friend further, He placed a hand and pat the Time Keeper's head, "Now, now Clocky, don't be rude, he's been having migraines the past couple of days and me and Pan got tired of him complaining, so we gave him a lil' something to help him out-"

"Huh, Sam's been having Migraines too, maybe you too should try more than one Advil or something-"

"I don't think that's a good idea Squirt, he's already a mess in stress and she's all dark and gloomy, we don't need either of them turning pill poppers"

Everyone turned around to see Dan walk into the room.

"Morning Dan", smirked Clockwork.

"Morning Oldman", Dan smirked back, "you know, when someone says they're gonna take a nap it's usually a one to three hour thing, _**not**_ a 10 minute thing"

"Oh please, I've been trying to tell him that for eons, he still hasn't learned"

The Children laughed and Dan turned to Clockwork, "So what are they here for?"

"Good question", the Time Keeper then turned to the Children themselves, "What are you here for?"

"Well…" they started.

* * *

"So you're telling me that the entire house is just filled with foamy ectoplasm and you just _left_ Jasmine there?"

"My parents got to her before we could Clockwork-"

"Hah! Should we give a moment of silence for our fallen sister?!"

Dan laughed until he was shushed by Dani.

"Shhh! It's called a moment of _**silence!**_ "

At this point everyone started laughing.

"Well, I'll leave you all to your sleep over, me and Pan will be going-", he was grabbed before he could move.

"Oh no you don't, if they're staying here you're suffering with me"

"I have no problem in staying Clockwork-", Pan was cut off by Dan.

"Wait what?! Who said anything about a sleep over?"

They all stopped to look at Dan, the Phantom looked more confused than anything.

"Nocturne and I only came to keep Clockwork company, but since everyone is here-"

"Wait so can we stay?" Dani looked hopeful.

"What? No! I have to deal with you and the other sorry sacks of meat on a daily basis, I don't need to have you around for a full 24hours, Oldman do something-"

"We're outvoted Dan-"

"God I hate fucking politics"

"Sooo, we can have the sleepover?"

"Yes Daniel"

"Alright, let's break out the board games!" suggested Tucker, as he headed towards the Specter speeder.

"How 'bout Monopoly?", asked Sam.

" _ **NO!**_ " Shouted Dan, Danny and Nocturne.

Dani laughed.

"Long reign the Queen of Monopoly!"

* * *

 **AN/: heyo, ok so this was originally _waay_ longer but i had to write it a couple of times cause it kept getting deleted, so i decide it's best to post this lil thing than nothing at all right? The pt2 of this will be called "The Little Game", if you couldn't get the last chapter before this, then the new chapt should help clear somethings up _or_ confuse you guys a lil more XD. Also do try to piece together the order of these pieces, this piece in particular, can you guess where this one goes? **

**Anyway guys come on it's just a lil puzzle** **,** **keep trying, you can figure out the** **"Pieces arc" ;) Also I still really want your input on this and the drabbles in general.**

 **Of course other than the obvious grammar and spelling mistakes, but please feel free to give criticism on those too, I want to get better at writing and I won't learn unless I get the constructive criticism i need right?** **But anyway you guys know the drill, send me your requests, and I'll write 'em, ask me your questions and I'll answer them, send me your reviews and I'll smile like the little nut I am.**

 **Love y'all ^-^**


	33. Merry Christmas

**Mer Chrismis, Have an SU thing XD**

 **Ok so this was a lil bit of what i was writing for my awesome friend Poly, i was their "Secret Santa" , They said they loved it, hopefully you guys will as well.**

* * *

1\. **Introductions**

"Dan, this Is Garnet"

The Phantom looked suspiciously at the new person, he looked them up and down before sneering, he turned, crossing his arms and scoffing.

"Garnet? Isn't that the name of a rock, you know like one of the shiny ones you use on a fancy kitchen counter?"

Clockwork deadpanned at both the question and his ward's behaviour, rolling his eyes he answered the Phantom anyway.

"That's granite Dan, and while that is a rock, Garnet is a _special_ type of rock, it's -"

"A Gem", the feminine voice was strong, confident, **_powerful_**. Dan didn't like that, he had enough powerful bastards telling him what to do, he wasn't a dog, the Oldman was nice enough, but there were time when even the Time Keeper got on his nerves, he wasn't going to have another being "lording" over him.

"I'm garnet of the Crystal Gems, nice to meet you Dan", she outstretched her hand for a shake, this is where our flame haired Phantom noticed the gem that was in the palm of her hand, he looked down, to see if there was one on the other, seeing this the Gem showed him both hands, two gems with different shapes on them.

Clockwork cleared his throat behind them.

Dan was so engrossed in watching the gems of the "Gem", he jumped, quite startled, the only saviour to his pride was that he didn't yelp or make any other embarrassing like noises. Scoffing and turning his head slightly to hide his blush, he reached and tentatively shook the hand, well actually he shook her fingers, he refused to touch the gem in her palm.

He didn't like this, he couldn't sense her aura, she was obviously **_not_** a ghost and " _what the fuck did she mean by gem? Is it because of the gems in her hands? Did that make her powerful?"_ All these thoughts raced through the Phantom's mind.

Dan hated not knowing, he hated it with a passion, he learnt the hard way that even inanimate objects could kill him *ehem, Time-staff, ehem*, he wasn't going to take the chance with this shades wearing, half pattern, squared haired lady _at all._ He was wary and suspicious and he would remain that way, he had good reason too, if a floating wooden stick could off him, who's to say this lady can't drop kick him to his end.

Usually, he was never this paranoid, but this was someone from a whole different level of species and her presence unnerved him for some reason, it felt as if she knew something he never would, it's why he didn't like her smile. You'd think that living with Clockwork he'd be used to things like that, but this " _Gra? Gar? Granet? Garnet? Whatever the fuck her name was",_ she felt _different_ and that bothered him. At least he had the Oldman with him if shit should go to hell.

"Well I'll leave you two to get acquainted"

 _"This ticking son of a bitch!"_

"I have some business I need to take care of in my office, so if you'd excuse me", with that the Time Master walked away, unaware of the turmoil and the curses his ward was lobbing at him mentally, he disappeared through the Citadel's hall into a portal to his office, leaving the other two behind.

The two looked at each other. 

"So..."

* * *

 **2\. Not so bad**

"And he refused to accept help, saying he'd heal-"

"You're kidding"

"Not at all, Pearl was frantic, so she had me drag him inside, of course he kept trying to phase out our- my hands"

By this time Dan was cackling, he hardly registered that slip up, but in the enjoyment in the moment he ignored it.

"Is that really how you met Clockwork?"

"Yes, after we finally managed to bandage him up he wouldn't eat anything-"

"Tch, that sounds like the Oldman, stubborn as all hell-"

Garnet chuckled, "of course, you want to know something else?" the gem suddenly donned a mischievous smirk.

One that Dan found himself mimicking. "Oh do tell", his grin could rival the Cheshire cat.

"Amethyst ran into the kitchen with a batch of cookies that Pearl had just made, while Pearl was chasing her, Clockwork immediately perked up, he kept his eyes on the tray the whole time"

"Oh-ho, fuck I think I know where this is going", the Phantom had to stop between breaths he was laughing too much.

"So I grabbed Amethyst took the tray from her-"

"Did you wave the thing in front pf his face?"

"I might have~"

"Oh my fucking god, I can imagine him just following it with his head like a puppy"

"It indeed was puppy like"

"I'm never letting him live this down"

"I'm sure you won't, I ended up giving him three cookies, that's all he ate for the whole day, the next day he left, he wasn't lying when he said he healed quick"

"Huh, I guess being a Time Mast- speak of the devil"

Clockwork walked out from the kitchen, he had a pencil in his ear and in one hand he held a paper report, while he munched on a cookie with the other hand, it was obvious that he teleported from his office to the kitchen and what was even more obvious was the look of pure disdain on his face.

Seeing the cookie the Time Master was eating Dan began to chortle.

"Still eating cookies there Clocky?"

Clockwork raised a brow.

"I was telling him about the first time we met"

The Time Keeper titled his head, slightly, in question, opening his mouth to counter when he remembered.

He closed his mouth and opened it, then closed it again before scowling, he bit his cookie and stormed off towards his room.

By the purple blush dusting his cheeks it was very obvious that he wasn't angry, just more embarrassed than anything.

Dan wiped a tear from his eyes, he then looked to the cause of it all and gave a small smirk.

"You're not so bad", he stretched out his hand for the Gem to take and she did so without a problem.

"I could say the same for you, but that would be a lie now would it, hmm Phantom?" her smile said it all.

"Too true Gem, too true"

* * *

 **Pranks around the clock**

"Gem! Dammit Garnet get over here!"

It had only been a week since the Phantom and the Gem were introduced and the pair became quiet an amusing sight for anyone in the Citadel.

Not that anyone else was in the citadel, Clockwork was too busy with something, always up and down from his office to his time screens and through a portal, he hardly kept one spot for more than 20 minutes.

Come to think of it he did mention why but Dan didn't listen, coincidentally it was the reason Garnet was there in the first place.

* * *

"So you're telling me, that you're getting me a babysitter? What am I fucking 2? Honestly Old man, you can trust me not kill off people in a different dimension but not to stay in the freaking tower alone?"

"…Yes…"

"Bullshit," deadpanned Dan, "you're hiding something and you don't want me to know, but fuck that what happened to the Dream bastard, why isn't he here?"

Clockwork sighed, "he's a member of the council as well Dan, Nocturne, Pandora and I are all going-"

"Well that's too bad I almost miss his cooking, wanted to see if I could bribe him into making that curry again, but anyway", Dan crossed his arms," who is the sad soul that gets stuck in this hellhole with me?"

The Time Keeper rolled his eyes.

"Dan, this is Garnet"...

* * *

Truly time flies, the meeting of the two only felt like mere seconds rather than a week, and from a mere hour on the first day till now, well...

"I swear, when I get my hands on you Gem you're gonna beg for death!"

"Now, now Phantom, it's just whip cream", the semi chastising voice echoed from somewhere in the tower, but try as he might, he just couldn't find her.

"When I find you-!"

"You won't, because you're not looking, if you looked carefully, you would've found me by now"

"Oh don't get cocky with me Gem, when I fi-"

"If", she corrected, "if you find me"

"Oh I will and when I do, I'll-"

"Let's play a game Dan, if you find me before lunch time, then I'll do whatever you want for a day, but if I win, you have to do what I want, deal?"

The Phantom stopped to consider it, "anything?"

"Anything"

"Deal!"

Having complete control over someone or something was always a ride he could jump on, he smirked at the thought, this was gonna be fun.

* * *

It was now 2pm and Dan still couldn't find Garnet, her laughter mocked him from seemingly everywhere, resounding adamantly and bouncing mischievously from cog to cog.

"You know you lost two hours ago Dan"

The Phantom growled, "You're cheating!"

"I am not, I'm simply in plain sight, or should I say out of sight"

"Grr. What are you talking about Gem?"

The Phantom looked all around but could not find the voice, so focused was he, that he jumped at the unexpected tap on his shoulder.

Turning around wildly, only to see Garnet standing there with a smug grin on her face.

"How did you do that?" he hissed out, he wasn't one to accept defeat, but he had to admit that was impressive.

"I'll show you and then we'll see if you can put it to good use"

"You mean on the Oldman?"

"Maybe~"

"Oh you're on"

* * *

Unfortunately for both of them Clockwork's sporadic ups and downs didn't give them much chance at pranking him, but did that stop them?

 _NOPE!_

* * *

4\. **Solo**

Oddly enough, despite their attempts at catching him in surprise, Clockwork came to them straight forward.

"I won't be here today-"

"As usual nowadays-"

"I'm _always_ here"

"Yeah, for five minutes at a time"

"Still here Dan", The Time Keeper looked tired and irritation was obvious in his voice. Dan decided that treading on that thin rope wasn't the wisest thing to do, so he dropped it.

"Fine Oldman, you're gone for the day, what do you want from me?"

"I want you to behave-"

"Behave? You want me to behave?! What the fuck Clockwork, how old do you think I am? I'm not a Fucking child-"

"Compared to me you are-"

"Yeah, that's because you're old as balls, come to think of it, do you even hav-?"

"That's _enough_ Dan, try not to kill anyone or destroy anything, try not to get killed yourself and do listen to Garnet-"

"Where's the Gem anyway?"

"Probably in the gym down stairs"

"Fine, see you at whatever the fuck time you decide to come home"

Clockwork rolled his eyes, "yes, mother".

Dan turned to say something snarky but The Time Master was already gone. Growling under his breath about stupid Time Ghosts, he phased through the floor and into the gym/training section of the Citadel and low and behold was Garnet, beating away at a punching bag.

* * *

Dan whistled when the punching bag went flying off its hinges.

"Jeez, what did it ever do to you?"

The Gem didn't answer, she simply smiled, one that radiated pure smugness.

Dan rolled his eyes, wordlessly picking up the fallen bag and placing it back, on the hook, Garnet gave a nod and began punching out again as Dan braced against it.

"So what's up with you? Get bored upstairs?"

"Something like that"

"Oh? Do tell Gem", the Phantom smirked, as Garnet continued to punch and occasionally kick the bag.

"I was bored, wanted to see if you would spar, but you were asleep, so I came down here"

"You wanted to spar with me?"

"Not anymore-"

"Why not?"

"I don't think you'd be a challenge"

The Gem was smirking, so Dan knew very well she was baiting him, but having nothing else to do a Spar seemed like a perfect idea to rid himself of boredom.

"I'll show you a challenge"

* * *

"No powers, so no flying am especially no phasing"

"Fine then, no gloves"

"You can't turn down your strength, so you can't turn down mine-"

"Yes because that's fair-"

"What afraid your muscles can't take a hit?"

"Oh you're on Gem", smirked Dan, red eyes twinkling with excitement.

"Bring it Phantom", Garnet smirked right back.

* * *

Somewhere between the punches and the kicks the two found themselves respecting the other for their adept Hand to Hand combat skills.

Not only that but they ended up talking, telling each other little stories and asking questions about the moves they learnt, wars they faced or, in Dan's case, started.

Somehow or the other Dan came to ask a particular question.

"So", the Phantom started, dodging a well-aimed punch to his face," how did the Oldman rope you into this 'babysitting' gig anyway? "

"Well", Garnet kicked up to block a punch, wincing slightly behind her visor, that's a bruise, "Steven said I needed a day off from babysitting him-", she threw a punch buy Dan stopped her by grabbing both her fists in one hand.

"Wait so, you took a day off from. Babysitting to babysit, boy won't Steph-? Steve-? Whatever his name is-"

"His name is Steven-", Garnet grit her teeth as she tried to pry her arms loose.

"Yeah him, what is he anyway? Human or Gem?"

"He's a hybrid, you should know all about that", with a leg she made a sweeping kick as she pulled her hands away and Dan ended up sprawled on his back.

"Low blow Gem", he groaned, "low blow"

By the time Dan picked himself off the floor Garnet was already in the other side of the room, rubbing herself off with a towel.

She passed Dan the second towel when he approached, he took it wordlessly and began to wipe the sweat off him as well.

"Hey, question", Garnet looked at him from over her shoulder, "you said you got a day off, it's been a week, so...?"

"It's only been a minute"

"What?!"

"Clockwork"

"Ah, a minute per week, so how long are you staying?"

"Tired of me already Phantom?"

Dan just rolled his eyes.

Garnet sighed, "It's for however long Clockwork needs me here-"

"Yeah sure, to babysit me 'cause the bastard has trust issues"

The Gem chuckled, "come on, Spar times over and we both need a wash, unless of course you'd rather stay like that when Clocky comes home"

"Haha, very funny", deadpanned the Phantom.

* * *

It was late in the evening, Dan was laying on the beams as usual and Garnet was reading a magazine in the Purple couch below him, when they heard the tell-tale sound of a portal opening.

"Looks like the Oldman's home"

Garnet looked up at the Phantom and nodded.

"You know, we never did get to prank him before"

Garnet wordlessly pulled out a spray can of whip cream, Dan smirked.

* * *

 **Is he ok?**

It wasn't hard to see that the Time Master was exhausted, with all the ups and downs seemingly draining all the energy from him, it was easy for the two to sneak by him, just in time to see him flop onto his bed, out cold the second he hit the pillow.

Both our pranksters were excited, but neither moved, not until five minutes later when the Time Staff slid slowly from slack fingers. While his prank partner was ready to strike, Dan narrowed his eyes, putting out a hand to stop her, something was wrong.

When the staff actually hit the purple bed-room mat, Dan swallowed thickly, something was really wrong, the Staff always floated when out of its Master's grasp, the Staff of Time fell with a **_thud_** and didn't even glow.

Red eyes turned from the Staff to the Time Keeper when Clockwork began to cough. He had curled himself on the side, almost in the fetal position, with an arm wrapped around his mid-section while the other curled to his mouth in an attempt to stem the coughing. The coughing fit lasted a few seconds, but when the hand pulled away the grey gloves were stained with green.

Phantom didn't know why, but seeing the ectoplasm made him panic internally, he still had his arm out, so the other couldn't move if she wanted too, before either of them could blink a purple portal opened and Nocturne stepped out, followed by two Sleepwalkers that were carrying a shit ton of First aid supplies.

He had them put the supplies on a nearby nightstand before dismissing the creatures.

"Honestly Clockwork, I told you this would happen", the Dreamweaver caught sight of the "grounded" Staff, sighing he propped it up against the wall. He was about to remove the Time Keeper's Cloak but he shivered and coughed. Grimacing slightly at the ectoplasm his friend coughed up, Nocturne telekinetically brought forth a small white cloth and a corked vile from the nightstand.

In the vial was a blue-ish green liquid, carefully he propped up the unconscious ghost and poured the vial's contents into his mouth. The reaction was instant, Clockwork's eyes snapped open and Nocturne quickly passed him the cloth as the Time Keeper descended into another coughing fit.

When his fit finally died down Clockwork found that Nocturne was rubbing his back the whole time. His entire body hurt, and all he wanted to do was sleep. But the Dreamweaver wouldn't let him.

"ngh…"

"I know, I know, but you really shouldn't sleep until the painkiller kicks in, you remember what happened last time" 

Clockwork just groaned some more, before having to struggle through another coughing fit.

The white cloth at this point was now completely green, seeing this Nocturne burned it away with ectoplasmic fire and brought forth another cloth for his friend, Clockwork wordlessly took it, he remained curled up with a hand placed on his head to ease the spinning.

"Hey, look on the bright side, we did the physical work, all we have left now is the paperwork and Pan with-"

"I did the paperwork already", Clockworks voice was hoarse and exhaustion was very much evident in it.

"Really?"

The Time Keeper gave a rough nod, before swallowing thickly, "all we have to do now is wait for Pan to-"

"For me to what? Finish the realms from **_Nisevitca_** up?", Pandora came out of a portal and sat on the bed next to the boys, in her hand she held what looked like a white first aid kit, "In that case, then we're done"

"That's what a week off?" asked Nocturne

"A week and a half I think, because of the dimensional hoping"

"No actually, we get two weeks off for this", at the confused looks the guys gave her, Pan explained more, "two weeks because of the Christmas Truce."

"Oh right… I almost forgot about that…", the Time Keeper was drifting off, losing the battle with his eyelids.

"Yeah and your forgetting that you need to stay awake, that concussion you got is pretty bad"

"I'm fine…it'll… heal…", his sentence trailed off as he slipped straight into an exhausted slumber

Nocturne tapped Clockwork's cheeks, one, two, three times before successfully rousing him once more, but the Time Keeper was none too happy about that.

Turning he faced towards Pan, who gave him a soft smile and brushed the few locks that were covering his face.

"How are you feeling?"

Clockwork gave a dry chuckle, "I feel like I got blasted five dimensions into a cliff by distorted Paradoxal energy"

"That's because you did smart ass", snarked Nocturne, "Gravity falls will never be the same again, you hit that cliff pretty hard, like the amount of rock that fell off- I'm surprised you only have a concussion"

"…and some-internal damage…probably"

"Honestly Clockwork, you're going to push yourself right into core exhaustion-"

"For like *yawn* the third time *yawn* in a year?"

" _Yes",_ hissed the Dreamweaver, "you're still holding that dimensions temporal energy aren't you? One minute per week right? Honestly, you fixed the paradox thing by removing it and fixing the damage, among all the other missions we had to do for the council-"

"…the Paradoxal energy had been removed…it's just…to put back what caused it…" Clockwork cut him off with a sleepy wave of dismissal, really he was well on his way to slipping back into the embrace of sleep.

Unknown to the other three, Garnet gasped quietly, eyes wide she pulled the invisible and intangible Dan outside with her, once outside she ran off and quickly disappeared, Dan was left confused and worried, for both the Gem and the Time Keeper.

Pandora sighed, "You're exhausted Clockwork, you should rest"

"Pan, he can't, that weird energy is still in his system, plus the concussion, sleep isn't a good idea unless you have something that'll keep down for a bit, cause you _know_ he wakes every other minute, the sleep and wake **will** mess him up"

"You love to doubt me don't you", Pan said with a small smirk, she pulled out a clear vial, from her "first aid kit", with some slightly blue-ish oil, she removed the cork and poured a generous amount on her upper hands, she then pulled the Time Keeper closer to her with her lower two and held him there, with that she place one of her oil coated hands on Clockwork's forehead, while she ran the other through his hair.

At first the Time Master stiffened before relaxing and leaning to the surprisingly cool touch.

"…Pan"

"Yes"

"…Your hand…'ts cold"

"Too cold?"

"…No…" Clockwork "breathed" between every word, trying his hardest to remain awake, despite the pull of sleep.

"Good"

"…What's it…?"

Pan chuckled at the sleepy mumble, "its frost poppy oil"

"…evil…"

"Mhm, just a little, now go to sleep", Clockwork didn't need to be told twice, he slipped off the second Pan said "Sleep".

Nocturne looked over from the Sleeping Time Master then to Pan, "You really are evil, how did you get a hold of frost poppies anyway?"

"From Frostbite, he was happy to help, he's been trying to 'repay' us since the whole worm thing during mating season"

"Ah, well, at least we know he's gonna sleep straight through the night"

"True".

* * *

7\. **The Split.**

When Garnet had pulled away from Dan, she ran as far as she could go before hoping up to one of the beams and hiding.

She started to **_Split._**

 **"It's all my fault"**

" _No it's not"_

 **"Yes it is!"**

" _It's not!"_

 **"Didn't you here what they said?! We're the Paradoxal disturbance!"**

 _"We don't know that!"_

 **"Yes we do, he took us out of our dimension because we were creating a disturbance as if we were paradoxes!"**

 _"That's still not your fault!"_

 **"Yes it is! I kept using our future vision and changing things, and now Clockwork's hurt because of us!"**

 _"That and his concussion and head wound and internal injuries, if we were hurting him he would have sent us home the second he fixed the problem!"_

 **"So we didn't hurt him?"**

 _"That's what I've been saying! Jeez Saph, usually you're the level headed one"_

 **"Ha-ha yeah, I guess I am, but you have your moments too ruby"**

"Garnet! Gem! Where the fuck did you go?!"

So vulnerable was their bond at that moment, so close to separating during their arguing that when they heard a shout their fright sent them falling, splitting, in two separate ways and two separate bodies.

* * *

Dan was confused, slightly worried, but more confused, all the while Clockwork had him thinking that he was the one being babysitted by Garnet, when it was the other way around, the Gem was causing a Paradoxal reaction in the time stream, so Clockwork had to remove her from her timeline and dimension entirely, fix it and _then_ put her back, but why didn't he tell him?

He was almost tempted to go back in there and shake the bastard awake, but the other two might very well kill him, deciding that finding Garnet was his best bet, The Phantom set out to look for the Gem.

"Garnet! Gem! Where the fuck did you go?!"

Suddenly there was a flash of light and two yells, Dan instinctively stepped back only to see two midgets fall from the beam to where he was standing a few seconds ago.

He looked down at the red and blue girls? The red one confused him, so he picked it up by the scruff.

"Who the fuck are you?!"

The red one in his hand squirmed and wiggled, _"ngh, let me go Dan!"_

Hearing the red thing say his name did two things, one, confirmed that both the blue and red were girls and two, it set off alarm bells in his head, _she knew his name_.

"How do you know my name?!" the Phantom growled, he was about to move his arm to squeeze her neck, when the blue one stopped him. She didn't look like much of a threat in that puffy blue dress, but he kept a wary eye on her.

 **"Dan please, put Ruby down, we can explain"**

"You better start talking now or she won't have a neck"

 **"Wh-what?!"**

Dan moved his free hand closer to the prone Ruby.

Sapphire frantically of how to save her other half, she couldn't see the future in the Time Citadel only its Master could do that, she needed to think of a way to get Dan to free Ruby and fast!

 **"Uh, um, your hand! Ruby show him your hand, your gem!"**

Ruby did as told and showed Dan her gem, Sapphire did the same, the Phantom put Ruby down, he recognised those Gems, but never like that. With Ruby freed, Saph wasted no time in running towards Ruby, the spun around and in a flash there was Garnet.

Dan blinked in shock, he didn't like being made a fool of.

"Explain", he gritted out.

* * *

"Ok so I get the whole fusion thing now but question"

 ** _"Ask away"_** , said both mini gems, they had separated to explain to Dan what fusion was, or at least they tried to, Dan seemed to not care that much anyway.

"Are you two sisters?"

They shook their heads.

"Friends?"

" _Uh,_ **Um, _ye-es?_** "

Dan face palmed.

"Oh boy, this is one of those 'two-tiny-lesbians-in-a-trench coat-thing' isn't it?"

The two girls nodded with a sympathetic smile.

* * *

When Clockwork woke the day after, he was still a bit groggy, his energy level was at an all-time low but at least he didn't have core exhaustion. Scratching his head and wincing slightly when he felt the slight pain.

He walked up to the Screen Room and stopped at the sight he saw.

Pan was laying on the couch using Nocturne as a pillow, while she read a green book, now it was who she was reading to that had Clockwork stop in his tracks.

Dan was sitting criss-crossed on the floor across from Pan, using the coffee table (which he moved) as a back rest, eating popcorn with Ruby on his lap and Sapphire on his shoulder. The Phantom was the first to spot his entrance.

"Hey Oldman!" he said through mouthfuls of popcorn, "Did ya' know there was two of them?" The Phantom handed Ruby some kernels which she heated into popcorn.

"I'm taking this one". He said gesturing to Ruby "You can keep the future vision one"

Clockwork rolled his eyes.

"Hey, there staying till after Christmas right?"

The girls shrugged and looked at the Time Keeper.

Clockwork sighed, the amount of energy it was taking to slow their dimension for a minute per week was a lot, but he caved anyway.

"Sure, they can stay till after Christmas"

"You sure you have the energy for that?" piped Nocturne from the couch, Pan gave him a concerned look.

The Time Keeper shrugged, "I haven't passed out yet so, till Christmas it is", with that Clockwork grabbed a handful of popcorn, gave a nod of thanks to Ruby and then walked toward Pan and Nocturne. Don't ask how three people managed to lay on that couch, but they did so comfortably.

Clockwork was sandwiched between the two but ended up using Pan's stomach as a pillow and his legs were tangled with Nocturne's. Pan had one of her lower hands, hugging onto Nocturne from the side/underneath, while her adjacent upper hand played with Clockwork's hair, the other two arms were used to hold the book she was reading aloud to everyone. Eventually Clockwork did fall asleep, but no one seemed to mind it.

* * *

" **MERRY CHRISTMAS, HAPPY HOLIDAYS AND I WISH YOU ALL HAPPY NEW YEAR!"**

 **lOVE Y'ALL ^_^**


	34. Deal

**AN/: Hey guys, how was your Chirstmas? And for those celebrating Hunnakah how's it been going? Just really curious, I didn't really do much for Christmas but I did get my Driver's license today so that's a plus XD. Anyway This one isn't a part of the Pieces arc, this is a _Birthday request,_ so you know I had to do this one ;)**

 **Enjoy and Review**

 **DISCLAIMER: I do not own Danny Phantom**

* * *

 **Deal**

It doesn't matter how old the children are, children are children and asking the weirdest questions from out of the blue is just par for the course.

Danny, Sam and Dani were currently in the Citadel and unlike norm-Pfft as if they even know the meaning of _normal *_ ehem* uh, they were just reading books, actual hard leather back _**books**_.

Danny and Sam were on the floor, well actually, Fenton was on the floor on laying his stomach, while Sam was propped up against him, sitting slightly with her knees up. Dani on the other hand was in the air happily floating on her back, occasionally kicking her legs to propel her in a semi-circular motion.

"Hey Clockwork, are demons real?"

"Daniel, you know I'm not allowed to displace that information, anything regarding religion is out-"

"Ah, nice try, but every religion has demons in it Clockwork", the Time Keeper turned from his Screens and gave the Goth a questioning glance, "every religion has something about demons, even if it doesn't say so specifically. After all, aren't most religions based off interpretation?"

Clockwork had to agree with that logic, but he wouldn't let the Goth continue to tease him.

"Honestly Samantha", with a shake of his and head small smile when the Mason Girl protested at the full version of her name, he answered Danny's Question, "Yes Daniel, demons do exist-"

"Do they really make deals that go wrong for the fun of it?"

"I seem to recall Desiree doing the same no?"

"Huh, true", with that the Children became quiet again, easily sinking in to the ticking of the clocks and drifting with the ink on the pages. Well that was until Dani piped up.

The mini Phantom floated upside down at face level to the Time Keeper.

"Hey Clockwork, Have you ever met a demon?" her questioning look could not be missed even despite her orientation in the air.

He decided that no _real_ harm could come by answering a child's simple question of curiosity, so he replied.

"Yes I have"

Dani's face lit up, she then flipped a page in her book, looked at it, then looked to Clockwork.

"Woah, have you ever made a deal with one?"

The Time Master Blinked, taken aback, he looked toward the other two to see them just as eagerly waiting for the answer.

"Just what books are you reading?"

* * *

"Demonology and Mysteries of the Dark Arts"

Clockwork inclined his head, that's fair, it _was_ Samantha after all. His eyes moved onto Danny and the Fenton boy spared no time in gesturing to his book.

"Are they out there?: Underworld edition"

Alright, not so bad, the Time Keeper then turned to Dani, who seeing it was her turn, flipped upright and showed the title of book to the Temporal Ghost himself.

"Deal with the Devil", she said, tapping the golden inked words.

Clockwork deadpanned.

"My fault for asking", he muttered, the children laughed, but it was obvious that they still wanted the answer. Sighing in slight contempt of his softness, he answered as honest and vague as he could.

"No I have never made a deal with a demon", seeing Dani's face fall he continued, " _but,_ I did learn the art of the 'deal', the very same skill they use when they make theirs", Dani's face perked right up and suddenly Sam and Danny were sitting much closer to him than they were before _._

"Have you ever made a deal with someone Clockwork?"

"Indeed I have, Samantha", the Goth girl rolled her eyes but opened her mouth to ask something , Clockwork beat her to it, "but unlike most demons, I don't make deals that intentionally harm others"

"Cool"

Seemingly with nothing else to say the Goth retreated back into her book.

Dani on the other hand still hand a question.

"Have you ever botched a deal?"

This one had the Temporal ghost thinking, but before he could reply, Danny's phone rang

"...yeah? "

"...ok we'll be there in a few..."

With that the Halfa ended the call.

"All set?" asked Sam.

"Yeah, looks like it's go time"

Clockwork raised a brow, seeing this Dani clarified.

"We're going to Tucker's little cousin's birthday party"

"Then why weren't you helping? Tucker is your friend isn't he?"

"Oh believe me Clockwork, we would have no problem helping, but Tuck's aunt is a little... um agro", said Danny scratching his head sheepishly.

"She won't let anyone into the vicinity until everything's been set up or at least close to it", the Goth gave a small shrug at her explanation, easily getting up to put away her book as well as the other two's

"And you decided to wait in my tower why?"

"Well if the party goes bad, we gotta drag Tucker out and we'd need a place to bail to, they'd catch us at Danny's and My place is a no go, so the Citadel is the best bet"

"Oh? And let's say this party does go 'bad' Samantha, what makes you think I'll let you hide here?"

"Uh- um we'll bring you back some food?" Danny sheepishly rubbed his neck.

Clockwork deadpanned.

"Cake?" asked Sam with a shrug.

The Time Keeper's face remained as impassive as ever.

"Brownies! Jazz is making Brownies, we can bring you one"

"No"

"Two?"

"Danielle-"

"Three, wait-wait a whole plate! We'll bring you a whole plate of brownies _if_ you let us hide out here if things go south"

Clockwork sighed.

"And If I say no?"

"Then I'll save a brownie and when I do get back here I'll eat it right in front of you?

"Evil child"

"Come on Clocky, you know you like Jazz's brownies, do you really want to miss out on a whole plate?"

"Fine", curse him and his sweet tooth, but he wasn't going to let the children go that easy, no he was petty like that sometimes, "But I want brownies regardless if the party goes well or not," he stretched his hand out, "deal?"

Dani shook the outstretched hand with a smirk, "deal".

Sam and Danny gaped, did Dani just swindle the Master of Time? Either way, she couldn't possibly sneak an entire plate of Brownies out of the party, could she?

The look in the little Halfa's eyes seemed to say "Watch me."

Soon enough all three children left, two flying by their abilities and the other in the Specter Speeder.

Clockwork shook his head, "what was he going to do with these children?"

Speaking of, a certain someone's question kept popping up.

* * *

"Botched deals?" the Time Keeper narrowed his eyes in further thought, only one came to mind, "hmm, seems like a visit is long overdue"

With a spin of two clock hands and a flash, Clockwork disappeared behind the blue circular portal that "popped" out if existence.

The portal opened behind the desk of what appears to be an office, sitting at the desk was a Caucasian man with brown hair, the man in question was hunched over deep in concentration on the image he was sketching, and it was obvious by the speed that the man was an experienced artist.

Clockwork silently peered over the man's shoulder, he was drawing what looked to be a child with a big head, big hair (and a little hat) and even bigger buck teeth, the Time Keeper narrowed his eyes. Floating back a respectful distance before clearing his throat.

"Hello Earl"

The man tensed at the sound of his name being called, he hadn't heard his real name for quite a while, as a matter of fact he hadn't heard the voice behind him for quite a while either, but he knew it all the same. With a flick of his foot, his chair span around so he could face the being behind him.

"Hey Clockwork! Been a while huh? How've you been?"

The Time Master inclined his head and shrugged lightly.

"Oh you know, same old same old, nothing much to complain about, except of course the Observants, but that's nothing new hmm?" Clockwork floated leisurely to the front of the desk causing the man to turn his chair to keep in eye contact, "But I guess I can't say the same for you no? You don't look a day older than 30 and yet you're 51, now why is that?"

The man, Earl, winced, "Good diet and exercise?"

The ghost deadpanned at the human, they both knew that he wasn't buying the sad excuse of a lie. At least Earl had the decency to look sheepish, Clockwork rolled his eyes.

"Now Earl, how long has it been since we last met?"

The man scowled and crossed his arms, this caused the Temporal ghost to raise a brow.

"Apparently long enough for you to forget that I told you to stop calling me Earl"

Clockwork smirked.

"You know, that reminds me of one of my _acquired_ charges, she hates me using her full name as well-"

"I don't blame her, heaven knows how many times I've tried to get you to stop-"

"Now _Earl_ , I told you before, I only ever call one by their nicknames if we're close," the sweet tone changed, but the smirk remained, "you and I have no such closeness", Earl sank in his chair apprehensively, gulping slightly, he kept his eyes on the floating Time Ghost, who for all the means looked like he was pacing the office as if he owned the place. Earl would follow carefully the left- right-left movement as Clockwork continued, his ominous and echo tinted voice was just loud enough to drown out any other sound in the room but he was sure that no one outside would even begin to hear them.

"Do you know why I'm here Earl?"

"Just dropping in to say hi, after all these years?"

"Earl-"

The man sighed exasperated, "Why Earl? Do I _look_ like an Earl? I have no place of power, hell I'm not even into politics-!"

"That may be true, but you do lie like a Politian"

The man grew defensive, "Clockwork what is it that you want? Company? I can call a few girls I know-"

"And what makes you think, I'm interested in humans Earl?"

"You keep adopting them", he said matter of factly

The Time Keeper rolled his eyes.

"I _adopt_ them as you put it, because I care for them-"

"Exactly, your charges are children right? Why not make some of your own?"

"Earl, I would advise you not to cross that line-"

The Temporal ghost flew closer to the man, voice firm in warning.

The man ignored it, he had to continue, terror slowly building but he knew he had to continue delaying the inevitable, he wasn't ready to go yet, and besides, this was the exact way he got out of this situation last time.

"Clockwork, almost no one calls me Earl nowadays",

The venom in the Time Keeper's voice was dripping and his echo picked up.

" **Elmer Earl Har-** "

"Really? You went to _Elmer_? As if Earl wasn't heard nearly less enough, you bring up Elmer, just call me Butch, Clockwork, it's the least you can do for how long it took me to build up that name"

The flippant dismissal of his tone and the fact that he blatantly ignored the echo caused Clockwork to sigh, he wasn't going to get anywhere with a scare tactic, not enough anyway. Dropping the echo and the tone, the Time Master switched tactics.

"Ah yes, the Alias you use for the show", the Temporal Ghost's eyes narrowed, "What happened to the show _Elmer?_ "

"I- uh…"

"Did you forget our deal?" slowly the Time Keeper let his contempt dip in to his tone, the slow burn seemed to cause more of a reaction than the faster one.

"Wha-?! No of course not, I- I'm still producing-", the man sputtered as he reeled back, things were not taking a good turn for him.

"Yes, the wrong show, this one needs to be laid to rest just like the others and I must say, while you did marginally well with ghosts, majority of the fairies I now don't take too kindly your portrayal of them"

"Come one now Clocky, you can't be mad at me for this-"

The Time Keepers voice became stern and twice as cynical.

"Our deal-"

"Look, I'm not breaking our deal, I'm still producing and I have a show-"

"Yes, but you're no longer showing the one we agreed upon-"

"Hey, you never specified which show, so I'm still following the rules"

Clockwork shrugged slightly, "True, but you never said how long the deal would last, I could have stopped the second after the first episode was aired, and I would _still_ be following the rules"

Butch, looked frantic, his eyes darting everywhere but the Time Master, that is until an idea stuck.

"The deal was as long as I was producing for the show-"

"Ah, but you're not, you are no longer producing anything for the show, no merchandise, no promotion, _nothing_ "

"I-"

"Tssk, tssk, your time is moving _**Butch**_ , your beginning to _age_ …"

And in a blink, Clockwork was gone, leaving a very startled man behind.

* * *

The second he walked into his Tower, Dani knocked on the door, once he waved his hand to indicate Citadel to open the door, Clockwork found himself with three quite decently sized plates of food.

A plate with three slices of Pizza and a Slice of Cake on the side, A plate with Fried Chicken, mashed potatoes and fries and the last was a plate with about eight brownies. With all this food all at once, you couldn't blame the Time Keeper for being so dumbfounded. Of course Dani laughed at his facial expression, but she promised not to tell.

"The Party's going great! But as promised I brought you your food _and_ a plate of brownies", the Phantom girl was practically beaming, after all, it was a true feat to be able to shock the Master of Time.

"Well, I'll leave you to it, at least now you can tell Uncle Nocturne that were feeding you!"

And with that the little Phantom took off, shooting straight out the Citadel with a smile and a wave.

Clockwork shook his head, he then began to chuckle when he felt a familiar paper under one of the plates, a purple sticky note.

' _The brownies are to die for Clockwork- oh wait ;)'_

He rolled his eyes fondly, Samantha and her dark sense of humour.

'PS. Danny says "Hi" and try the Pizza.'

The edges of his lips quirked.

' _Hey Clockwork, you gotta try the fried chicken, my mom made it, trust me you're gonna love it dude_ ', this was obviously Tucker's handwriting.

Now there was a smile.

' _Clocky, there's cake :) and the frosting is really sweet!'_ this one was Danielle's

He chuckled fondly.

"What in the world am I going to do with these Children?"

* * *

With his charges all busy at a party, Clockwork remained alone, calm and quiet in his Citadel happily munching on one of the many brownies, while watching the Time Screens. After a couple hours and three brownies later, the Time Keeper turned to a Screen on his left.

" _ **Hi, I'm Butch Hartman….**_ "

"… _ **and this is how they would look ten years from now…**_ "

"… _ **it might even make a comeback…**_ "

Clockwork smirked, at the Man, that "might" and that tiny piece of art just saved him from the deal, for now at least.

Hartman was one of his first few deals, quite a few loopholes in that one and the human took every chance to exploit them, not like he couldn't do so as well, the Temporal ghost simply chose not to, no this deal wasn't botched.

More like it got _Butched._

* * *

 **AN:/ Happy Birthday** _ **Johnathen,**_ **hope you liked it and hope you have a wonderful birthday and many more, also send me some cake! XD**

 **Fun fact: Elmer Earl Hartman IV is actually Butch Hartman's real name, he got butch as a nickname from an old friend, cool huh? Welp that's it for this request.**

 **On that note, I will be continuing with the pieces arc, but reviews are very much welcome and hey maybe your review gets incorporated into the pieces arc itself who knows ;)**

 **But anyway you guys know the drill, send me your requests, and I'll write 'em, ask me your questions and I'll answer them, send me your reviews and I'll smile like the little nut I am.**

 **Love yall ^-^**


	35. Mistress

**AN/: Hey guys, Happy Friday, how goes the Hunnakah? Uh it's still going right?**

 **Enjoy and Review**

 **DISCLAIMER: I do not own Danny Phantom**

* * *

 **Mistress**

Everyone knew that Pandora was a warrior, strong, confident, kind and beautiful, that was her _yesterday._

Today...today she found herself hugging a bucket, currently emptying the contents of her stomach into said bucket, mild aware that Clockwork was holding her hair back.

After stomach finally decided to stop, she was given some water to wash her mouth and a cloth was passed over to wipe.

All these motions happened so quickly she was hardly aware of it, right after the cloth wiped her mouth she was pulled gently back onto her bed an onto a cool chest, well case.

She pressed her face up against it, Clockwork was like her ice pack at this point, there was a wet cloth on her forehead now, she saw when he put it there but she couldn't feel it, so the Time Master was her best bet.

From this position she could her the ticking of his core, nice and steady, it was strangely soothing, even more so as the Time Keeper was running his fingers through her hair, she would chuckle if she had the energy to, they switched, usually it was her consoling an ill Clockwork.

"Pan"

She looked up at him with bleary eyes.

"Sleep", he said, ever so gently brushing the hair from out of her face.

Nodding as best she could she buried herself further into his chest and slowly drifted off.

Clockwork smiled fondly and gently repositioned the cold cloth on her forehead. He began treading his fingers through her hair once more, something he vaguely remembers her doing when he was sick.

Nocturne came in a few minutes after Pandora had fallen asleep. With a flick like motion of his hand, the bucket and its contents were willed away.

"She doing better?"

The Time Keeper nodded, not once did look up from the sleeping figure on his chest.

Nocturne rolled his eyes, sometimes he couldn't tell just who the "Mother" of their little trio was.

"I see you're playing ice pack today"

"Looks like"

"Wait just how cold is your case?"

"Well, I was in the Far Frozen for two hours before coming here"

"Meeting?"

"Isn't it always?"

Nocturne scoffed slightly.

"No wonder, your cold glass must feel like heaven to her right now."

"I would presume so"

Nocturne rolled his eyes again, Clockwork still hadn't looked at him. Looking at the two of them again, he smirked.

"You know, she goes any higher, you'll end up flat on your back, then again that that might be a good thing, you can both get some sleep"

This time the Time Master looked up at him and glared, it took a moment for him to realize what the Dreamweaver had in his hand.

"Where did you get that that?"

"Found it in the kitchen, well I didn't find it the twins did, speaking of would you please let them in? They're dying to see her"

"What?" Asked the confused Temporal Ghost, "they can come in"

"Actually they can't", the Time Keeper raised a brow, "your aura Clockwork, it's scaring them"

"What?" Nocturne pointed up, his eyes followed, "oh".

To the untrained eye, nothing in the room would seem amiss, but Clockwork's aura was everywhere, a lower-level ghost could only sense it but a higher level like Nocturne could see it.

Blue energy danced within the room almost like a menacing fire, the Time Keeper blushed, he was worried, rarely had Pan ever fallen sick, his worry caused his aura to flare and the leaf that Nocturne telekinetically held, only added to that to that worry, it was no wonder that the twins were scared.

Taking a breath, Clockwork dismissed his aura as much as he could, the second it was low (and less threatening) enough the Twins came rushing in, the two elder ghosts wondered briefly how they could move so fast and so silently in all that armour and then they remembered that Pandora was the their mentor.

Grəa and Rœă, "Gree and Ro" if they were ever called by name, though that was quite rare, they were inseparable since they entered into Pandora's care so most simply dubbed them "the Twins".

Their armour was strikingly similar to Pandora's, so much so that most confused Ro for his older sister. With their pale blue skin, green eyes and mid length black flaming hair many of the residence of Athens assumed they were her children, of course with her having found and raised them they weren't so far from the truth.

The Twins stood worriedly at the bedside, they found Blood blossom leaf in the kitchen, that only met one thing, someone was trying to get **rid** of their Mistress.

* * *

 **AN/: Yo, yeah this was a short one but I'm not feeling too well so I made Pan suffer with me, I'm thinking about continuing this one who knows. For the "Twins" their names are pronounced Grəa and Rœă (Greea and Roya), Ro is the boy, younger by a few seconds and if y'all want me to continue this, they'll be around a bit more often, plus we get a deeper insight to Pandora's background, or atleast my version of it ;)**

 **Ok so I need to address this one, I got an awesome request for an oneshot by Johnathen, and truly I would love to write it friend but I know little to nothing about two of the characters and I have not seen Lego Ninjago enough to actually right about Wu, but if you request something of _the DP_ fandom (Phandom) then I'll be happy to write it up for ya, sorry bout that, ^-^'**

 **Speaking of reviews I need to thank you guys like for real, I made it to a 101 reviews, you guys are awesome thanks for sticking with me and all my grammar errors for so long XD but really, thanks, it really made my day and as a plus, I did promise poly that I'd tell you guys that once I reach a 100 reviews I'd start with a fic for a _different_ rating level, so for all of you that like sin, _welcome_.**

 **This fic will include how the trio started, more on the war, more on spirits and definitely more on Mating season, well all these are things between Clocky, Noccy and Pan, how they went from strangers, to friends, to friends with benefits, their struggles with training and how they finally became "Masters" and what the Title means and represents. So stay tuned for that.**

 **If you're not into the M rating that's cool, this drabble series will still be here and chapter 8 of Hunger is well on its way ;)**

 **On that note, I will be continuing with the pieces arc, but reviews are very much welcome and hey maybe your review gets incorporated into the pieces arc itself who knows ;)**

 **But anyway you guys know the drill, send me your requests, and I'll write 'em, ask me your questions and I'll answer them, send me your reviews and I'll smile like the little nut I am.**

 **Love yall ^-^**


	36. Bullied

**AN/: Hey guys, Happy New Year! its only the first day and I wanna die, people wont let me _sleep_ , 2017 man, starting off _wonderfully._**

 **Enjoy and Review**

 **DISCLAIMER: I do not own Danny Phantom**

* * *

 **Bullied**

It was weird really, just a normal day in Amity some would say, but then again, when was _anything_ normal in Amity?

* * *

Things started off quite normal in Casper High, classes began at 8:00, the teachers droned on about their respective subjects and the students either wrote down notes or dozed off. Things were going well for first period.

Second period went without saying, well except for that spit ball fight in the computer room, oh those poor IT nerds, they're gonna be cleaning chewed up spit wads for a week.

Third period nothing much happened, Valerie's pen did explode during Math class though.

Fourth period was tame too, but Paulina's science experiment caught fire during Chemistry class.

Fifth p- wait Lunch, it was Lunch, the bell had just rung and the second Sam stepped out into the hall a rogue sprinkler went off, presumably it was a left over one from Paulina's incident. Either way the Goth was drenched and everyone knows what happens to a drenched Goth.

Sam's hair plastered downwards and her mascara ran, to make matters worse her black top decided squeeze her chest, so not only did she look like a wet and very pissed off cat, the boys were whistling inappropriately at her now visible figure.

The Manson girl wasted no time in marching to her locker, only to find her spare clothes that she used for P.E, torn-more like cut in shreds.

At first she blamed Paulina, but the pink Latina came marching down the hall just that second, the rich brunette was just as angry as the Goth was, charred and sooty the Latina continued her march all the way outside, growling about how "her beautiful hair was ruined".

With Paulina out of the picture she blamed Valerie, only to see her march down the hall the same way the Latina did before her, the girl's face was covered in black ink.

Star came right after, hair in a mess, and her shirt stained with an unknown brown substance. Right after Star came another girl and another and another, all looking either pissed off and disheveled of hurt and about to cry, one poor soul looked like all of the above, said girl also had what looked like an amount of spit balls decorating her face.

Sam watched in awe as the "parade" of girls walked out of Casper High, each heading home for one reason or the other.

Hell even Jazz was in it, the elder Fenton was usually impossible to kick down, what in the world could have made her so miser-

Her car alarm went off, after finally finding her keys, by having to empty her school bags contents onto the floor, she picked up her stuff, slid into her car, only for the air bags to suddenly deploy.

Her scream of surprise turned into a scream of indignation, then contempt then pure acceptance of defeat when the sound simply died out, the Fenton girl just stayed limp as if the weight of the whole world had just crushed her soul.

The Goth was about to give aid when she swore she saw something fly out in the distance from the corners of her eye.

"Oh you're on whoever you are"

* * *

"Holy sh-iit! Ha! I fucking can't, you look like a wet cat!", Dan was laughing so hard the Phantom had tears streaming from the corner of his face.

Well that was until the soaked Goth hissed at him, the flame haired ghost reared back in fright, truly the Manson Girl was not to be messed with.

Sam walked forward to the Time Keeper by his Screens, behind her she could hear Dan whisper to the other three behind her.

"What's her problem?"

"Dunno, she just asked us to bring her here", whispered Danny.

"Yeah she didn't tell us why"

"She's pretty mad though-"

Sam turned around, fire in her eyes.

"I CAN HEAR YOU!"

Instantly all three Phantoms took a dive and vanished into thin air, leaving poor Tucker the only on visible.

"Oh come on!" cried the techno geek.

Sam turned back with a huff to face a slightly on edge Clockwork.

"...Samantha?"

"Yes?" Came the Goth from under her still plastered hair.

"Are you-", the Time Keeper floated back a bit, tail swishing nervously, "are you alright?"

"Just _peachy_ ", she gritted out, left eye twitching slightly, she huffed once more, before looking at the Time ghost, "I need a favour"

Clockwork swallowed thickly, tentatively he stretched out his hand and snapped his fingers, only to quickly pull it back as if afraid the limb would have been chopped off.

When Clockwork snapped his fingers a small amount of Temporal energy formed and hit Sam straight in the face. The Goth girl quickly pulled out her phone to see exactly what the blue energy had done to her.

Her makeup was fixed and her hair was put in place and whatever mascara lines she had were gone, she looked normal again.

By the time Sam looked up from her phone and back to the Time Master, Clockwork was already a good five feet further from her than before.

"Thanks", she said, receiving a slight nod in return, "but that's not the favour I wanted to ask you"

The Temporal Ghost sighed, "I thought so, what is it?"

"I need to borrow your Time Screens-"

"Samantha, you should know better, I will not allow you to change past events-"

"Not to change anything, I promise, I just need to confirm some suspicions of mine", an evil glint filled her eyes.

Clockwork didn't like the look on the Goth's face, he shivered slightly, giving her access, truly he pitied the poor soul she was looking for.

And not a moment after he thought that, said poor soul was found.

"Hello Youngblood, do you know why you're here?"

The ghost child shook his head, he was absolutely terrified, and being pulled into the Time Citadel was a big deal, especially when the Master of Time was staring down at him.

"Then allow me to explain", Sam stepped out from behind Clockwork and gestured to the Time Screens. There they could see all the events that had transpired in the day.

In first period, what everyone thought was a random gust of wind, happened to be Youngblood just tossing up Star's hair in all manner of places, the poor blonde fought to control her locks but the attempt was vain and in the end she ended up leaving the class looking like she'd been in a hurricane.

Second period in the Computer room, what had appeared to be a spit ball fight was purely Youngblood with a straw aiming at one girl with glasses, the poor child ended up covered in wads of spit and to make matters worse the teacher wouldn't let her leave.

Third period was the Ghost Child using a small beam of ectoplasm to heat Valerie's pen and of course it resulted in it exploding. Black ink covering the girl's face.

Fourth period was in the Chem lab, there they saw Youngblood mix to chemical together in a flask, the very same flask Paulina grabbed not a second after. When she mixed the flask with her assigned chemicals, the solution caught on fire. It wasn't a very big fire but it was enough to leave the Chem lab and a certain Latina covered in soot and char.

Next was lunch, Sam was walking in the hall way when above her Youngblood cased the sprinkler to go off, only on Sam, apparently he had so pre-cut her clothes during third period after Valerie's pen. He had also messed with Jazz's reports and her car.

Star, Valerie, Paulina, Jazz, Sam and many other girls all victim to Youngblood's pranks.

"Care to explain?" The Goth looked calm and collected, but everyone in the Citadel mentally compared it to a ticking time bomb.

"I-uh, I d-did it be-because-"

"Because?" The Manson girl crossed her arms and raised her brow.

The ghost was afraid and in his fear, he became petulant.

"I did it because girls are dumb and mean and that new one didn't want to play with me!" crossing his arms and sticking out his tongue for emphasis.

"Hey!" Dani popped out of nowhere and was suddenly right in front of Youngblood, "I thought we were friends!"

"Wha-? Well yeah, you don't act like a girl, you don't wear makeup and-and dumb dresses and skirts and stuff"

"Yeah but I'm still a girl! Who's this new one?!-"

"Either way", but in Sam, "what you did could have hurt somebody, those chemicals could have done something to Paulina or worse someone innocent, plus the air bags with Jazz, those things can break your neck"

The ghost child simply rolled his eyes, not amused in the slightest.

Sam growled and grabbed him by his little pirate coat.

Listen here, you little brat, just because someone didn't want to play your silly little game, doesn't give you the right to go on a pranking spree, you do that again and I swear to you that my face will be the last thing you'd ever see at the end of your afterlife, got it?" The ghost child nodded, and Sam let him go.

The Goth's glare sent shivers down his spine, he looked to Clockwork, who was backing up a bit more. The Time Ghost looked down at him from the corner from his eye.

"Hell hath no fury than a Woman scorned child, it's best you apologize"

Youngblood nodded and pleaded for forgiveness.

"I promise I won't do it again, honest!"

"You'd better not, or else!"

The ghost child quickly nodded and when Clockwork opened a portal, he wasted no time in going through it.

With that done, the Goth calmed herself significantly, sighing she turned to the Time Keeper.

"Thanks Clockwork, I owe you one", she received a nod in answer.

She then addressed the others.

"Let's get some lunch, I'm starving"

No one wanted to anger the Goth at the moment so Danny, Dani and Tucker nodded and made a beeline for the door, with a few "bye's" and "later's" for Clockwork.

Said Time Master breathed a sigh of relief when the children lef-.

"Hey Clockwork", the Time Keeper turned to the Goth who was a foot away from leaving.

"Yes?"

"Don't think I didn't notice", Clockwork's brow arched, "you called me _**'Samantha'**_ three times today"

Sam's eyes had that glint again.

The Time Keeper gulped in audibly as the girl turned around and exited his lair.

"And I thought Valerie was scary, but _fuck_ , that Youngblood kid got off lucky"

Clockwork was inclined to agree.

* * *

 **AN/: Well there ya go Johnathen, you wanted the girls getting bullied hope you liked it, hope you guys had a good new years, i'll probably write up something** **tomorrow, so any New year requests? ;)**

 **The _"SIN"_ should be coming soon, i'm planning out the plot and stuff, so i just need a little time and a title. Any suggestions?**

 **But anyway you guys know the drill, send me your requests, and I'll write 'em, ask me your questions and I'll answer them, send me your reviews and I'll smile like the little nut I am.**

 **Love yall ^-^**


	37. Happy New Year!

**AN/: Hey guys, Happy Wednesday, everyone who had to go to school today raise your hands.**

 **Enjoy and Review**

 **DISCLAIMER: I do not own Danny Phantom**

* * *

 **Happy New Year!**

Baby New Year is the personification of the start of the New Year, symbolizing the "birth" of the next year and the "passing" of the prior year; in other words, a "rebirth".

His duty varies by myth but it's generally to watch over the course of his year, start the chronicling of the year's events and or preside over the year as a symbol. Now he's more often than not associated with Father Time, which when you're both Father Time _and_ Baby New Year, it's either very difficult or very easy depending on how you look at it.

* * *

Every end of year Clockwork, in his eldest form, would give a speech to the council, in reality it was more like a report on the year.

2016 wasn't the best year and the Time Keeper, or Father Time as his role currently was, made sure to tell the members of the Ghost council not set the bar too high for the New Year.

With his speech done, Clockwork then switches to his youngest form and begins his role as "Baby New Year".

Chronicling took quite a while and _quite the amount of energy_ , starting at 6am and ending exactly at midnight.

On the Brightside, he always got two days off afterwards, simply because the Observants had just about the same amount of trust issues he had and they would recheck the archives for the year's Chronicling.

Thus leaving Clockwork where he was now, tiredly entering his Citadel, fully expecting to relax, sleep and loosen stiff muscles, only to find he had uninvited guests

* * *

"Happy New Year!"

The Time Keeper deadpanned.

"What are you two doing here?"

"Celebrating the New Year like we always do"

"Nocturne, we never celebrate New Years-"

"That's because you always lock us out-"

"Yes, because it's my only two days off and it's the one year I forgot to tell the Citadel to keep visitors out"

Pandora rolled her eyes, "what else are you going to do?"

"Sleep, you know the thing", he gestured to Nocturne, "that he always wants me to do"

"There's also another thing I want you to do~".

Clockwork sighed at the suggestive Dreamweaver.

"You hear that Pan? He sighed, he doesn't want to do this", the Dream Ghost smirked, "maybe this can convince him"

Somehow two wine bottles appeared in Nocturne's hands.

"It's going to take a lot mor-" Clockwork protested.

Two more bottles appeared the Dream maker's hands.

Clockwork looked to Pan only to see that she had two bottles in each of her hands.

"Fine, pass me a bottle", he said begrudgingly as he accepted the ectohol from the warrior, "but let's take it to my room, it'll be less of a mess to clean up later"

"Alright! We're gonna get you to loosen up, you've got two days off and we've got 12 bottles"

"We're going to end up drinking this all in one night aren't we? "

Nocturne and Pandora looked at each other, then back at Clockwork.

"Yes"

The Time Keeper rolled his eyes.

"Fair enough"

* * *

"Where's the Phantom?" asked Nocturne between his sips of wine.

"Dan? He's spending New Years with the Fentons"

"Good, then we can make all the noise we want~"

"Oh please Pan, we both know that you're the quietest one out of all of us and Mr. prude over here is the loudest."

"I. Am. _**Not**_. A prude"

"Hmm, but you're not denying being the loudest~", Nocturne leaned in close.

"No point denying the truth", Clockwork came up to meet him in a kiss.

Pan switched over, tugging off the Time Keeper's tunic, while Nocturne willed away the bottles and wine glasses.

"There should be no interruptions right?"

"...no... Citadel's...hnn~...n-not letting... anyone else in..."

"Good", finished with his self-appointed task, he turned to face the other two, he chuckled at the purple Time Master that was happily being straddled, "easy there Pan, you're leaving him breathless"

The Guardian pulled away slowly from her kiss with Clockwork, who whined slightly at the loss, and winked at the Dream weaver.

"Don't worry, you're next"

Nocturne smirked.

Somewhere in the kissing and the talking, clothing was removed, there was more touching, hair was being tugged, heat was forming, friction was needed and _**love**_ was being made.

* * *

Being sandwiched between his friends was becoming his favourite position.  
Laying on Nocturne's hard grey chest with Pan's soft blue hugging at his back, yes he was truly comfortable in his sleep, that is of course until someone came banging at the door.

At first Clockwork didn't hear the knocking, but it got so bad Time Keeper couldn't go back to sleep, the Citadel chimed apologetically to its owner, but informed him that the situation was of importance.

Grumbling to himself the Time Master phased out from in between his lovers, he grabbed his pants from off the floor, putting them on, he teleported to the door.

The glare he had upon his face could have probably killed someone, if looks could kill that is. But the person outside didn't see his glare, as a matter of fact, the second he opened the door, Dan flew in.

"Dan what-?!"

Clockwork stopped his yell before he could start, Dan was in his human guise, but he had small pieces of his true form showing, skin smoking as if he'd been victim to gun shit wounds.

"Well Happy New Year to you too Oldman", muttered the Phantom sarcastically, he was holding one arm.

"What happened?"

"G.I.W put something in the fireworks, we were just watching when the smoke came down, saw an ectopus melt into goop in less than five minutes"

Clockwork "hmmed" as gently probed for access of the injured arm, once he saw the extent, the Time Keeper quickly pulled him into the direction of the kitchen.

"And the kids?"

"They made up an excuse about bad food"

"And you?"

"Jazz covered for me, something about me having to go to an important family meeting", Dan winced when his arm was tugged a bit too roughly, "some family meeting", sighing he placed his other hand to his forehead, "got anything to make the room stop spinning?"

"That's what I'm getting"

The Temporal Ghost was rummaging in the cupboards until he found it, a blank white case that looked like a first-aid kit, Clockwork was still holding Dan's arm so he sat the Phantom down at the table and opened the case with one hand.

It was a first-aid kit but it had special slots for vials, the Phantom tensed when the Time Keeper grabbed a pink vial, uncorked it with his teeth and poured a few drops of its contents on his skin.

The second the pinkish liquid touched his "human skin" the smoke cleared and his ghostly form appeared in that area. Seemingly satisfied with the results, Clockwork gave Dan the vial to drink.

"Here, it helps with poisons and toxins"

The flame haired Phantom eyed the vial suspiciously.

"Do you just have these in the kitchen?"

"No, I have first-aid kits in the Screen Room, Bathroom, my room, I have them practically everywhere in the Citadel"

"Really? Then why did you drag me to the kitchen when the Screen Room is closer?"

"Because", said Clockwork standing up, he pulled open the fridge and poured a glass of water, "it's closer to my room and you're going to need this"

Dan accepted the glass of water with a shrug.

"Fair enough"

With that he downed the vial, choking slightly on the taste before washing it down with the water, almost instantly his "human" visage flickered and dissipated, leaving the flame haired Ghost in his true form.

"Hey Clock-"

"Yes?"

"It's been bugging me since I came in here-"

"Do get to your point-"

"Are you drunk?"

"Drunk enough to answer my front door half naked", deadpanned the Time Master.

"You're kidding, you're this coherent and you're drunk?"

"You are aware there a people that can actually work and drive quite well when inaberatted, yes?"

"Yeah?"

"Well I'm one of those people"

Dan rolled his eyes.

"I guess it's not that hard to imagine, I mean you are a workaholic, you _could_ probably work shit-faced"

"Have once actually, rather not do that again, ended up in a three hour meeting with the Ancients and collapsed the second I got home"

" _O-oh fu-uck,_ how did you even stay awake?"  
 **  
"Spite, lots and lots of spite"**

Dan laughed even more.

"You know, I'm really starting to like the drunk you"

"Keep it down would you? I don't want to wake the other two"

"The other-?" The Phantom's eyes widened in realization, "ooh looks like someone had some kinky times"

Clockwork rolled his eyes, Dan was wagging his eyebrows suggestively.

"How long?"

"I keep time slower in the Citadel Dan-"

"Alright, I left at 12:00-"

"We started at 12:00-"

"So...how long have you been at it?"

Clockwork deadpanned.

"If you must know, six hours"

Dan gaped.

"Jesus fuck, what were you doing?! Well I mean I know what you were doing but, _fuck_!"

"That's exactly what we were doing", respond the Time Master with a wry smirk.

The Phantom blinked, stunned for a second before he burst out laughing.

"What's so funny, you two?"

" _Aand_ their awake", muttered the Time Master.

"Hey ya Dream bastard"

Nocturne rolled his eyes, he was standing behind the chair Clockwork was sitting in, tapping on the Time Keeper's shoulders before just up and giving the Temporal Ghost a massage.

"Hello Dan"

"Oh, so that's were Clocky's shirt went"

Pandora appeared on the other side of Clockwork, she was only wearing his purple tunic but her hair covered the rest of her body so she could care less, she smiled at the Phantom and kissed the Time Keeper before running her fingers through his hair.

Clockwork leaned to the touch.

Dan smirked, "A massage, kinky sex and booze, looks like someone's having a good New Year"

"Yes and I'd like to get back to it, but with you three-", he looked up at Pan, the Warrior had three bottles with her, "pass me a bottle", the Guardian readily complied.

Nocturne smirked, letting go of Clockwork before offering the Phantom a wine glass that he somehow willed into existence.

The Phantom shrugged and accepted.

 _"Why the fuck not?"_

* * *

Within the hour or **three** of drinking and talking, Pandora ended up straddling Clockwork on his chair and Nocturne ended up extremely close behind the Time Master.

Nocturne sucked, bit and nipped at his neck, tugging slightly at his hair, while Pan kissed him fiercely, her tongue was dancing and curling, warm and wet as it moved wonderfully around his.

Clockwork shivered slightly as Nocturne's claws grazed his sides, he shuddered when Pan used her lower hands and traced her fingers on his case.

"Mnh~"

"Hey, hey, 'm not drunk enough to see you three sexing it up on the kitchen table"

The Time Keeper stopped and pulled away _slowly_ from his kiss with Pan.  
And stared Dan dead in the eye.  
 _ **  
"Then close your eyes"**_

With that he went back to kissing Pan, it was a bit difficult since she was chuckling at his previous remark, but he managed anyway.

Dan gaped, the Time Ghost honestly surprised him with that, Nocturne was chuckling now, having pulled himself away from the other two.

"How much did he drink?"

The Dreamweaver shrugged, "we had twelve bottles and we're down to two so... _enough_ "

"I'm gonna have to listen to you guys all night aren't I?"

"I can always knock you out you know, we're not that cruel", he turned when one of the two moaned, Clockwork's hand was trailing down from Pan's back to her hips, Nocturne looked back at Dan, " _ **I'm**_ not that cruel"

"Fine, I might as well head to bed, since I'm gonna be drunk off my ass in the morning"

"Hmm true", smirked the Dreamweaver, he was still staring at the other two.

"What are you smirking at?"

"It's my turn next"

"With which one?"

"Heh"

* * *

The second the Phantom reached his room, he was greeted with the sight of a mini Sleepwalker.

The tiny creature had a purple draw string bag attached to its hip and it held a bottle of wine and a bucket in its hands.

He could hear the moaning in the background.

"Damn, they started already?"

The little green ghost nodded its head.

"Why do I have a feeling this isn't you're first time doing this?"

It shook its head.

"Lemme guess, every New Years?"

The creature shook its head and raised a single clawed finger.

"This is their First New Years?"

It nodded.

"Why?"

The little thing tapped it's wrist like one would a watch.

"Time? Oh Clockwork, what he's too tired to party?" Dan smirked, but it fell away when the creature nodded.

"Ok, so Christmas"

It shook its head.

"Really no Christmas? Hmm, ok what would they get together for- Formation days?"

The Mini Sleepwalker nodded.

"Ah, so Nocturne's the most times I'm guessing?"

It shook its head.

"Clockwork?"

It shook its hand from side to side.

"Kinda, huh, so Pandora then"

It nodded this time.

"Huh, that's something, this her wine too?"

It nodded again.

"Think I'll get any more of it after this is over?"

The Mini Sleepwalker shook its head.

"Thought so, pass me the bottle", the little thing did as told, however it's second movement was cut off by the Phantom with a wave, " don't bother with the glass, I'm finishing straight down"

Nodding, the mini willed away the glass it had just willed into existence.

Dan examined the wine bottle but he couldn't read the words on it, he shrugged, he wasn't that much of a wine fanatic, sure his "Vlad side" dabbled in his own collection, but that was beside the point, it's been awhile since he actual had something alcoholic to drink.

Besides getting drunk shitless with a Valerie hunting you down wasn't exactly the best idea, he did do it once though.

Shrugging he took a swig, he'd have to ask one of them what it was called, the flavor was pleasant, so much so that if he didn't know how he felt when he was drunk, he'd think himself sober.

About halfway through the bottle, the Phantom offered the little Sleepwalker some, the creature declined and gestured for him to finish it.

"More for me then"

When the bottle was finished and the room began to spin significantly Dan laid down, the mini Sleepwalker floated above him.

"Alright lil' guy, knock me the fuck out, I'm really not up for walking up with this hangover in the morning"

The little creature nodded and reached into its little purple bag pulling out some sleep dust, it sprinkled it onto Dan's face and in a few seconds the Phantom was snoring.

* * *

This time he was laying on Pandora's chest with Nocturne at his back, he really enjoyed being sandwiched in between the two, what? _They were comfortable and_ _ **warm**_ _.  
_  
Of course once again, his comfortable sleep was interrupted by knocking at his door, unfortunately for Clockwork, the knocking was at his bedroom door.

"Hey Oldman!"

The door opened with a grumbled "What?!"

Dan peered into see all the three sets of crimson glaring at his red ones.

Clockwork was laying on Pan's chest and his white hair and her own pink one covered her effectively, Nocturne was on the Time Keeper's back, the Dreamweaver's long, thick, black hair was a strong against his grey skin and his skin was an even stronger contrast against Clockwork's, a thin purple sheet covered each of their waists.

Naked and entangled, they still looked very menacing, even more so when you realize they were all both pissed off and hungover.

But then again so was Dan.

"Hey don't get angry with me, I was trying to sleep-"

"Then what-?"

"The fucking one eyed ass holes are outside, trying to get in"

If it could seem possible Clockwork's glare deepened.

"Oh for the love of-", the Time Keeper cut himself off, eyes glowing blue he snapped his fingers and the Citadel chimed loudly, followed by a bang and a _scream_?

"Did you just throw an Observant out of the Citadel, **literally**?"

Pan and Nocturne chuckled.

Clockwork just put a finger to his lips, "Shh", his eyes were droopy now without the glare, "they're not going to bother us for a while because of it, so let me sleep".

With that the Time Keeper buried his head back onto Pan's chest.

Dan left, closing the door with a chuckle.

"Hey Oldman", he called back

"What?"

"You know how I said I like the drunk you?"

"Yes?"

"I like the Hungover you even better"

 _ **"Go to sleep Dan**_ "

The Phantom laughed.

* * *

 **Bonus:**

They were given an hour, just long enough to get 40 minutes of sleep and get a nice shower in.

Of course once that hour was up the Observants came hollering again, sighing Clockwork went to greet them.

Contrary to what he expected, the Observants were not in the Citadel, but instead the head Observant was shouting angrily for him on one of his Time Screens.

 _ **"Chronus!"**_

The Time Keeper winced slightly, he always hated when they used his true name.

"Yes?"

"It is until now that you choose to appear before us?"

"You are aware that it's still my day off right? Two days means 48 hours and from 12:00 am to 7:00 am is **not** 48 hours"

"That is beside the point Clockwork-"

"No that's _exactly_ the point-"

"It doesn't explain why you took so long to respond-"

"It's my _**day off**_ , I was asleep"

"Then why is one of my fellow Observants injured?"

An Observant with bandages comically wrapped around its head appeared on screen briefly.

Clockwork raised a brow.

"Why _is_ he injured?"

"He received such injuries at your Citadel"

The Time Master pinched the bridge of his nose.

"My apologies for that"

"So you admit to attacking me!" Accused the injured Observant.

Clockwork sighed.

"I didn't attack you, the Citadel was just doing what I told it to do, keep out any unwanted visitors"

"Why would you-"

"Because I was tired and I just wanted to rest and relax without anyone bothering me, come to think of it, I still do actually"

The injured one huffed.

"How inconsiderate-"

Clockwork didn't exactly like that.

"No, what's inconsiderate is you coming into another ghost's lair without permission-"

"I've been to the Citadel many a times and this has never happened-"

"That's because I'm usually awake or half awake at the very least"

"That still doesn't excuse-"

"No it doesn't, the Tower stopped you from teleporting in did it not?", Clockwork's voice was starting to echo.

"Y-yes-?"

"And yet you forced your way through", the Time Keeper crossed his arms, "What did you think was going to happen?"

The Head Observant, who was pushed out of view by the injured one, managed his way back and spoke up, "I do apologize for the accusations Chronus, but we did call you for a reason"

"And that would be?"

"This anomaly right here", called an Observant Scribe from another screen, he was scrutinizing a parchment he was holding up, "it was not archived-"

"Let me see that"

A blur portal opened near the scribes face and Clockwork's hand plucked the parchment right into the Citadel.

The Time Master took one look at the paper and glared at the scribe, the poor thing cowered visibly.

"Did you bother to check or even read this? The end of the report specifically says that it's filed for an anomaly branching from the Bermuda Triangle, did you check tha-"

"Y-yes I did s-sir!"

"Check it _**again**_ "

"Now Clockwork, there's no need to get riled up-"

Clockwork rounded on the Head Observant so fast the creature startled back.

"Don't tell me not to get riled up, you accuse and pester me on _**my day off**_ no less and then have the audacity to doubt my work in front of my face?!"

He turned to the scribe, eyes dark and fangs showing, **"Check. It. Again."** The scribe nodded and disappeared off screen.

It took a few moments but the Scribe came back, pale faced and holding the other part of the report.

"I-I f-found it sir"

"Right where it was supposed to be, hmm?"

The scribe nodded, sweating, the Time Master was obviously mad at him.  
When Clockwork opened a portal and passed back the parchment, the scribe flinched, expecting to be ended for his stupidity.

The Time Keeper sighed.

"I'm not going to hurt you, everyone makes mistakes, just...try not to make them when I'm sleep deprived alright? I have little patience for stupidity when I'm tired"

The Scribe nodded in awe of the mercy he'd been given, quickly he thanked Clockwork before leaving. With the Scribe gone the Time Screen was left blank.

Now that the Scribe was gone, Clockwork turned to the Head Observant.

"Is that all?", but before the Ocular Ghost could answer the Time Keeper cut him off, "good, now for every second of my time that you just wasted, I'm getting it back, which means it'd be greatly appreciated if you or any others would leave me be until Wednesday, got it?"

With that Clockwork ended the transmission. Placing a hand to his head he sighed, he didn't know if it was the hangover or just the Observants but his head hurt, so what did he do?

" _Paaan_!"

"Yes?"

"We have any more bottles?"

"Just one", she called from what he knew was his room.

"Pour me some"

"Clockwork..." her tone was chiding.

"What? I'm not planning on getting up till tomorrow afternoon"

"In that case I'm pouring you some-"

"Nocturne!"

"What? It's the last bottle anyway Pan, might aswell finish it"

"Fine, but no complaints afterwards!"

Clockwork chuckled at the two, easily teleporting up to his quarters only to hear Dan knock.

"Up for another drink Dan?"

* * *

"So no hope for 2017?"

"The bar has never been lower"

"Well fuck"

"He's just grumpy because 2016 wasn't all that good to him, have a little Hope Dan"

Nocturne rolled his eyes at Pandora, "ladies and gentlemen, the Guardian of Hope everybody"

"See told you, starting off bad already"

"Well it's still a new year Oldman"

"True", smirked the Time Ghost, "cheers"

All four lifted their wine glass.

"Happy New Years!"

* * *

 **AN/: Heyo! There a New Years drabble only four days _after_ New Years, well I did it, so yay, next update should be another part for the pieces arc, _should_ , today was the first day back at school and I already have three assignments and a quiz due Friday, why am I a Bio/Chem major again? Just ugh, but anyway Wednesday will still be an update regardless if it's a request or the Arc.**

 **For the new fic I'm starting, it'll be called "The Eyes of Sin", as I mentioned it will be rated 'M' but I'll keep it as 'T' so you can find it, I won't change it to 'M' until it actually reaches that point, but I will put the warnings up for the chapters, just in case any of y'all wanna skip those parts.**

 **Ok imma go start my assignments.**

 **But anyway you guys know the drill, send me your requests, and I'll write 'em, ask me your questions and I'll answer them, send me your reviews and I'll smile like the little nut I am.**

 **Love yall ^-^**


	38. Left Out

**AN/: Hey guys, hope your're all doing ok**

 **Enjoy and Review**

 **DISCLAIMER: I do not own Danny Phantom**

* * *

 **Left out**

" _Grrr_ ", it was a soft growl but a growl none the less, he hated this, detested it, abhorred it and any other synonym would not nearly fit the amount of disdain he had for it, oh well you look at that, _another synonym_ , wouldn't Jazz be proud?

 _Oh right, no she wouldn't, she was too busy with her books, too busy_ _ **, like everyone else.**_

The Oldman was at a meeting with the annoying one eyed freaks, the Dreambastard got dragged with him, squirt was training with Pandora and the kid was at school. That left him, alone in the Citadel with abso-fucking-lutely _nothing_ to do.

Not that he wanted to do something anyway, he could destroy shit sure, but that would only piss off Clockwork when he got back and boy was he an _**asshole**_ after a meeting, Nocturne would be even _more_ of a prick too, plus wrecking shit wasn't as fun unless someone was screaming in terror.

He could go see how Dani was doing, since Clockwork had to go to this meeting, Pandora had offered to train her in his place, going to the Ghost Zone version of Athens did sound like an intriguing idea, he could always fight the Minotaur, but for some reason he couldn't bring himself to go there make a scene and spoil the child's fun, even _he_ wasn't that petty.

Danny was in school, _he wasn't even going to bother._

And so the "Great Dan Phantom" slid slowly down, from where he was standing, and sat knees up with his back braced against a non-moving cog, he sat there feeling miserable and utterly alone.

* * *

Daniel "Danny" Fenton, was _not_ at school. As a matter of fact he got a day off and so did everybody else, 'section C1' of the school was utterly destroyed in the latest ghost attack, and usually classes would just resume in the 'section H3' _buut_ the teacher for section C1 and H3 was… unavailable.

No he wasn't dead Lancer was much too stubborn for that, Since Lancer practically teaches the whole school anyway and they hadn't the time to find a sub _for the sub_ , they let all his student out for a "free-day." Of course they would have to make this day back up somewhere in their Holiday break, but for now…

"Free-day!"

"Jeez Tuck, hype much?"

"Ha and ha, Sam", deadpanned the beret wearing boy.

"Hey I'm not the one who looks like a total nut case sticking my arms up shouting ' _free-day'_ as if we're not going to have to pay this back during our holiday break, it's more like _interest-day_ if anything"

"Fine, fine since you wanna be such a downer, it's ' _semi-freeday_ ', how's that sound?" he asked the Goth with a smirk.

Said Manson girl simply rolled her eyes.

Danny behind her simply groaned, half in frustration and half in a tired yawn.

"What's up Danny?"

"Yeah dude, you look more _dead_ than usual"

Now the Fenton boy rolled his eyes

"Gee thanks Tuck, why don't you spend all night doing home-work and fighting ghost till 3am?"

"Du-"

"What's worse is that because we don't have class today or tomorrow probably, I did this for _nothing_ " , his point punctuated by two hands, one with papers, presumably the afore mentioned homework and the other with absolutely nothing in it, both were flailing wildly as the owner expressed his frustrations. Sam had to duck a bit to avoid getting smacked in the face by chemistry papers?

"Alright, calm down Danny, look on the bright side…" she paused, "wow it really is bad when the _Goth_ is the one telling you to look on the bright side"

Tucker snorted, while the corner of Danny's lip lifted a little.

"What I mean is, let's not look a gift horse in the mouth, we have a day off, why not make the most of it?"

With that the trio headed towards Sam's, talking of non-descript things along the way, the Doom session they were going to have would be the best thing ever, they would have hours upon hours to play and the best thing was, _it wasn't even a weekend!_

* * *

"Right!"

"Right!"

"Left!"

"Left!"

"Right!"

"Right!" shouted Dani and the twins.

Pandora had been training her since this morning and she had to admit, _it was fun_ , especially with her newly appointed cousins.

The Twins as everyone called them, were the youngest in Pandora's guard, they were only a couple of centuries old, but they were fierce, strong and loyal, just like their "Mistress". They appeared to be 17 or 18 years old, with medium length flaming black hair, pale blue skin and green eyes.

Dani knew well enough that red eyes symbolized power, and flaming hair did to an extent as well but it was normally reserved for the older ghosts, who'd been around for ages, these two, well they were _young_ and by the laws of the ghost zone all young ghosts (that showed power at least) were to be placed under a guardian of their choosing till the individual was sufficiently able to control their abilities. Having wondered why the Twins picked Pan as their guardian, during a short break, she voiced her question aloud, only to have it answered by one of the oldest members of Pandora's Guardians.

Edulo was quite tall and broad for one his age, and he like all the other members of the Guardians, he wore his traditional Greek armour. He was grey skinned with a small black beard that made him look like an anorexic Santa-Claus, well at let to Dani anyway, the old man had a friendly aura that simply reminded you of a really cool grandpa and so the young Phantom decided to call him that, much to his chagrin.

" _So grandpa-"_

" _Edulo child-"_

 _"Why did the Twins pick auntie Pan as their Guardian?"_

" _It's simple", the elder paused slightly, "it's because she saved them"_

" _They were once slaves, formed together and enslaved together, this is why they never part, and their fate was sealed until an angel in gold freed them"_

" _Angel? Oh you mean-"_

" _Yes child, Pandora had almost single handily destroyed the slave trade and the slave masters with it, all the slaves were set free and relocated, some had faded into peace but others like the twins stayed and when asked they chose their saviour to guard them as she did before"_

"Now Children, we've made wonderful progress, you still have to work on your stances Danielle, but with enough practice the muscle memory should kick in, but that's it for training today"

"Cool. Thanks Auntie Pan"

"Not a problem my dear", the Guardian of the box smiled widely, giving the child high fives.

"I'll head off, 'gonna check on Danny and the others, see ya!"

With that the young Phantom waved goodbye to Pandora and the Twins and flew towards Amity.

* * *

The Meeting with the council was as important and meaningful as watching paint dry, Nocturne was long irritated and complaining about the sheer pointlessness of it, leaving Clockwork to debate whether he should shut the Dreamweaver up or join in on the rant- of course an Observant made that decision for him.

"You both are 'Masters', you are to uphold power and respect, your responsibilities can't just be shunned for an hour or two, it is constant work you must put up, these breaks of yours are getting ridiculous, more so yours Clockwork, I'm beginning to think your charges are distracting you, maybe we should have them removed-"

Nocturne's mouth formed an 'O', he backed a step or two away from the Time Master, looking the Observant dead in the eye, he shook his head, the classic sign for this perfect " _you fucked up royally_ " moment, the Observant didn't care, _yet_.

Crimson eyes were steely, "you dare bring my charges into this?"

"Of course Clockwork, after all they _are_ a distraction and what's worse, not only do they distract the both of you from your oh so difficult jobs-"

"Hey-", started Nocturne indignantly.

"But they distract the Guardian Pandora as well, is that not why she is absent from this meeting? Hmm?" The Ocular ghost seemed smug, that is until he glanced back at two seemingly fuming 'Masters'.

Let's just say, having one irate 'Master' was tough, having two _pissed off_ ones was-well mentioning the "offing of the charges" wasn't exactly the best thing on the Observant's part. Everyone knew how protective Clockwork was of his charges and Nocturne had basically adopted them anyway, so yeah…

On that note the meeting finished relatively early.

* * *

"Sam go left"

"I can't, my HP is too low, can't you run it?"

"Mine is lowers than yours"

"I'm at full health, and guess who has health packs"

"Tucker!", they shouted.

"I'm on it! And you said my five extra health packs were too much, look who needs me now"

The trio were on their fifth hour of gaming, so close to beating the custom level they created to play, it turned out to be much more complicated than they thought, but they loved the challenge.

"Danny, it's on you, go now, I'll cover"

"Yeah, go dude, Sam, I'll stealth through it"

"Alright Tuck, Danny's up front, so he should cover you if anything, got an EMP?"

"Oh you know I do", smirked the tech geek.

The Goth smirked back, "Then we got this in the bag"

…

"The bag exploded then disintegrated into ashes, that's what"

"You got that right Tuck"

"Ugh! We were so close!"

Danny reached down to pat the Goth, who was sitting upside down in a purple bean bag chair, on the shoulder, Sam simply slumped some more.

"We got severely rekt", sighed Tucker dejectedly, he then perked up "who's up for another round?"

Instantly the other two straightened up simultaneously, "I am!"

Suddenly Danny's ghost sense went off.

"Count me in too!"

All three heads turned to see Dani phasing into the room.

"Up for a game cuz?"

Danny smirked, "You know it"

"Alright, four player it is!"

"You got it Tuck?-"

"Yeah, just lemme, hook it up- _and_ there! All set Dani"

Tucker passed her the extra control and the clone selected her character.

"Nice balance there Dani, hope on my side, Tuck's got stealth and Danny's got speed, we got some big guns, let's back 'em up"

"You got it Sam!"

With Danny running the front and Tucker on the side in stealth mode, the boys made it a good distance, Dani and Sam provided enough cover to get them even further than they did last time. The four continued the game, immersed and concentrated all determined to win for Team Phantom.

* * *

When Clockwork arrived at the Citadel, with Nocturne in tow, the first thing he noticed was Dan sitting in a corner, quirking a brow he moved over to the Phantom.

"Are you alright Dan?"

"What do you want Oldman?"

"I was simply checking on you, you're not usually one for sitting in corners and-"

"I was thinking-"

"About-"

"None of your damn business", snapped the Phantom, he rose, albeit shakily, to his feet.

"Dan"

"What?!"

"I'm just concerned-"

"And why's that?, he spat.

"You're paler than usual and your hair isn't even aflame"

The Phantom truly didn't look _normal_ , but other than the paleness and the lack of fiery locks defying gravity, Clockwork couldn't discern much, Dan tended to be moody majority of the time so that didn't really help him come to a conclusion.

"I'm fine Oldman-", he smacked away the Time Keeper's gloved hand, he knew Clockwork was trying to check if he had a fever but he didn't want anyone touching him right now. Turning he moved to head to the stairs.

"Where are you going?", asked Nocturne

"Bed", the Phantom replied sourly.

"Do you want me to-"

"No I don't want your damn dust anywhere near my face-"

"Dan", toned Clockwork warningly, there was concern in his voice aswell.

"I'm fine!"

With that Dan stormed upstairs and into his room. Truth was, he wasn't fine, ever since this morning, his core ached, like a throb, it was a dull ache but it was constant too, he felt like it was _**splitting**_. He could ignore the ache sure…for now at least, but it still didn't explain his pale complexion or why his hair wouldn't flame like it usually did.

Deep inside he had an idea, but he refused to accept it, he had thought about it long and hard, come to think of it, it wasn't till he thought about it was when he felt the ache in his core, something was wrong, was it him? His obsession? What even was his obsession again?

What happens to a ghost that loses their obsession?

* * *

 **AN/: So this was I thing I ended up writing instead of the next part of the damn pieces arc, welp _life_ , speaking of life, I kinda just got "evicted" from my apartment? Like I was renting what was basically the house from my adopted aunt, shit happened and she needed money, so _she sold the house_ , yeah, so I had to move, I've literally been traveling up and down because college, which by the way I have to do another year of because I fucked up Calculus, yay math! -_-**

 **Anyway, I'll be staying with my Uncle, I actually posted this minutes before midnight because I was moving my stuff and ish, i'm getting settled and stuffs and pizza should be coming soon, so that's a plus, I can probably continue this if y'all want, you guys decide.**

 **Also shout out to Kim and Poly, y'all are keeping me going, kim thanks for legit the sole review on the last chapter, this week and the week before was just hell and there was _nothing_ , no emails, nada and with the apartment and the moving and like- your two little sentences… they helped a lot  thanks.**

 **But anyway you guys know the drill, send me your requests, and I'll write 'em, ask me your questions and I'll answer them, send me your reviews and I'll smile like the little nut I am.**

 **Love yall ^-^**


	39. Found

**AN/: Hey guys, back again, double update day, me and my random mood swings XD**

 **Enjoy and Review**

 **DISCLAIMER: I do not own Danny Phantom**

* * *

 **Found**

Even in sleep his core ached, flashes, mere pieces behind his eyes. One of him smirking, held at gun point by an irate Valerie, the other of him high-fiving Dani.

One of him destroying cities, the other was Clockwork teaching him about Dimensions beyond the Ghost Zone.

His Ghostly wail vs him against Sam in Doom. Wrecking the defence tower systems but helping Tucker fix some of his tech.

His murder and pillaging to hanging out and reading with Jazz. The destruction of the Nasty Burger with him learning how to bake cookies with Nocturne.

The last one flashed too fast, it was him sparring with Pandora and a distorted image, one that looked like it was melting into the mix, thick viscous colors mixed, _red and green, orange, yellow, black, purple, blue_ \- he realized now that it was a pile of bodies, their bodies, stacked up on one another, Dani, Jazz, Danny, Sam and Tucker, blank faced, eyes forever locked in terror.

Their entrails were what decorated the "room", thick blood and viscera with some ectoplasm from the two halfas. Stomachs ripped open, necks snapped, it looked so much like a slaughter house, the worst part was that the second he looked down, he noticed his hands, covered in blood and ectoplasm, his claws matched the gouged out stomachs perfectly.

Dan blinked, he could feel the texture of the liquid, thick and sticky, the stench of the blood and corpses it all seemed so real, but it couldn't be, right? His question was then answered.

"You did this Dan"

Turning he saw a very pissed off Clockwork, the guy didn't shout, hell most people wouldn't even tell he was angry but living with him for so long he could easily tell that the facial expression the Time Keeper donned, was one of death.

Nocturne and Pandora were behind him, looking equally as terrifying. They said nothing, their glares spoke enough.  
 _ **  
'SCHNK'  
**_  
"You caused this and I warned you Dan, I _warned_ you so many times, yet you behaved like the foolish, stubborn child you are, you had a second chance, one to regain your friends and family, isn't that what you wanted in the first place?"

Dan took a slow step back, gulping slightly, the sound he had heard earlier was Clockwork's scythe and the Temporal Ghost was brandishing the weapon with full intent in offing him.

Of course, that he did right after.

"You wasted your chance, Time's up", with that Clockwork swung.

Dan could only blink, there was a scythe straight through his core sticking out his back. Through the pain he smirked, this was a dream, _a fucked up one_ but a dream, the fact that he didn't disappear the second the scythe touched his core, plus, Clockwork.

There was no way in hell, the Oldman wouldn't even let him _near_ any of others if he so much as suspected a hint of mal-intent on him.

It was as if the realization of it being a dream just made shit ten times worse. The "room" broke, shattering like glass, the entire "ceiling" was white along with the sides, the only thing remained was the floor, red and green and the bodies before him.

The goddamn scythe was _still_ in his chest, Clockwork and the other two had disappeared, matters were made worse when the corpses began to move, taking a step back- _the fucking scythe was still there_ , as he watched as the bodies slowly crawled to their feet.

Once they stood, they turned to face him, their bodies started to decay in a rapid pace, rotting and falling off in some places, they began ambling closer like Zombies.

He didn't exactly like this, backing up some more and trying to phaze the fucking scythe out of his goddamn chest- something tapped him on his leg - he would never admit it, but he almost screamed, almost, and **it would have been a manly scream, I swear it, a very manly one** \- Dani had somehow appeared to him, her grey peeling skin, _fuck even the little beanie she always wore was grey.  
_  
Her dead eyes asked only one question.

"Why?"

He blinked.

"What?"

"Why?" she repeated.

"Look squirt, I didn't do anything"

"Why?"

"What? Ok, the fuck is going on here?!"

"Why?" started Danny.

"Kid don't you dare"

"Why?" the others began, mumbling in the same creepy way.

"Why?"

"Dammit kid!"

He backed up, they were moving forward again.

"Why?"

He looked down, Dani was gone, he looked back up only to jump, she was floating at eye level, her ghost form looked even worse than her human half.

Her hair wasn't white, a mix between grey and dirt, her suit torn, shredded, her stomach had claw marks, _his claw marks_ , they were deep enough that he could see the others through her, what bothered him the most though, were her eyes.

Not neon green but dead icy blue, wait no that's the wrong part of the eye, her sclera? Whatever the fuck it was called was blue but her pupils were gouged out so it left hallow holes in the eyes, she noticed his staring and smirked, cruelly.

The smirk turned into a fanged grin, she moved closer, he moved back. Honestly all of them were moving closer, for some reason the kid didn't change form and squirt looked more menacing than he had ever seen her, at that second her neck cracked and her head turned upside down, _Jesus Christ_ , he's gonna have a hard time looking at her when this was over.

For every step they took, he took a painful step back, _the fucking scythe was still in him_ , he couldn't turn around, he couldn't do anything but face them, when Dani lunged at him he decided to say " _ **fuck it**_ ", he pulled out the scythe, closed his eyes and swung.

It hurt like a bitch but the resounding thud and roll told him he got the job done. Opening his eyes he looked to see Dani's head at his feet, it smiled at him, _**yep that's gonna scar him for the rest of his after-life**_ , flinching he kicked it away from him, only to kick it towards the others.

They looked at the head, then at Dan.

"Oh fucking hel-"

But before he could finish his sentence, they lunged at him, dead grey and soulless.

He blinked and the room went from death, decay and gray to colors so bright they almost blinded him.

 **"This is a dream",** he reminded himself, _flashes of him brutally murdering his friends and family_ , **"this is a dream"** , _the gouging_ , _blood and guts; all the gore and viscera,_ **"this is a dream",** _their screams_.

* * *

"Aww come on! I call hacks", carefully she placed down the controller, they were expensive after all, before waving her hands wildly in exasperation.

"It's a custom game Dani"

"Still!"

"Wanna go again?" The Techno geek smirked as the halfa girl picked up the controller, a look of pure determination set in those blue eyes.

"Guys, no, I can feel my legs", complained Danny from the bean bag chair he was laying in.

"That's because I'm on them"

"Yeah Sam weighs like 20 lbs and her combat boots weigh the other 80"

"Gee thanks Tuck", snarked the Goth, but it was all in good fun.

They laughed until they were interrupted by Dani's stomach. The girl blushed.

"Sorry I haven't eaten anything since- um, before training"

"Jeez, no wonder your starving, it's like 3pm right now", whistled Tucker.

"Hmm, it's three right? That mean Clockwork and Uncle Noccy should be back-"

"What's that gotta do with you being hungry Dani?"

"Sam's got a point cuz"

"Remember that Pasta we had at the Citadel?"

"Oh man that was beautiful", Tucker rubbed his stomach, and Sam rolled her eyes but had to agree with him, the pasta was heaven.

"Oh right, Nocturne loves to cook, wait what makes you think he'll cook us something? Didn't he just come from a meeting?"

" _Dur_ Danny! That's why, he almost always makes something after meetings, he said something about Clocky being moody"

Danny made a "Fair enough" shrug, Dani tended to hang around at the Citadel more than he did anyway.

Sam shrugged, "with the Observants, you can't really blame him"

"True", piped Tucker.

"What are we waiting for then? Let's go!"

The trio laughed at Dani's eagerness but they got ready for the trip to the Ghost Zone anyway.

* * *

His dreams went from a horror show to flashes of images that were scattered and clashing, melding into some sort of amalgamation of his "life" but in a crappy Movie Maker rendition.

Being well aware of it being a dream, he was left in some sort of sleep-and-wake state, stuck between slumber and listening to voices who he could guess was Clockwork and Nocturne.

"He's sick?"

"I would think so, but-", the Temporal Ghost looked doubtful, the Phantom had a fever, it was obvious by the cold cloth Clockwork was placing on his forehead, it would seem that Dan was sick but something felt...off

"But? You think it's something else?"

"His energy is low and his aura is erratic-"

"That's what usually happens to us when we're sick, you especially-"

"I mean it feels strange, as if the energies within him were trying to pull it's self apart"

"Odd, he was fine this morning"

"Hmm", the Time Keeper frowned, Dan's brow was furrowed and he was mumbling something unintelligible under his breath, Clockwork couldn't hear what it was for the life of him, so he turned to the Dreamweaver.

"Is he having a nightmare?"

Nocturne shrugged.

"It's a fever dream, those tend to be, _not of the ordinary_ , you yourself have had those-"

"Yes, but after a few minutes of the weirdness, I tend to end up in a dreamless sleep and you're usually the reason for that-"

"That's because I have a connection with you and even if I had such a connection with _him_ , you said his energy feels off, what if whatever got him affects me too? Did you forget? When I have nightmares everyone suffers"

Clockwork winced.

"I remember, it got so bad that we didn't leave Athens for a month, I like how instead of facing the problem we just went straight to Pan"

"Eh, she's good at fighting things, why not nightmares?" Shrugged the Dream maker again.

"Because that's your job-"

"Hey, You're the Master of Time that _runs out of time_ _ **and**_ procrastinates, don't tell me how to do my job",

Clockwork chuckled, raising his hands as a sign of peace, the Dreamweaver was fuming but he could see his friend's blue blush.

Nocturne rolled his eyes, "you're staying with him?"

"Might as well-"

"Alright I'm heading downstairs before the cookies burn"

"Chocolate chip?"

"Of course~"

"Thank you-", the Time Keeper blinked as the Citadel chimed, shaking his head fondly he continued, "please do inform the others of the situation"

Nocturne raised a brow.

" _And_ they want more pasta"

"Thought so", chuckling he went down to greet the children and make the pasta of course.

* * *

"Is he gonna be ok?" Asked Dani, she was floating upside down above the sleeping Phantom.

"He should be waking up soon-", Clockwork was cut off by his very prediction.

Dan's eyes opened slowly, his vision cleared enough to see an upside-down faced Dani in front of him, instantly his mind flashed to the _other_ upside-down faced Dani.

The clone jumped back at Dan's reaction, actually she may have teleported with how startled she was, now at the end of the bed, the girl watched nervously at the other two.

The second Dan saw her he panicked, yelping he flipped over and grabbed onto Clockwork, he didn't know why, it was just pure instinct to _**not**_ see it, the Oldman was a constant _, nothing was wrong with him, nothing was falling off, breaking or losing its head,_ he held on tightly to the purple fabric, at this point purple was beginning to become his favourite fucking colour.

"Dan?!", obviously the Time Keeper wasn't expecting to be grabbed so suddenly or at all in fact, Clockwork was tense but he resigned to awkwardly patting the Phantom on the back, it was still odd to see those white lock without their signature flame.

"Jus' tell her to switch forms or somethin' anything, jus' tell her not to fly like that again"

The request was mumbled into the fabric of his cloak, but the Time Master heard it anyway.

"Danielle", the girl drew her eyes, from the now shivering Phantom, to him, "would you be so kind as to switch forms?"

The clone didn't hesitate to let the white rings wash over her, she remained trained on Dan though.

He said nothing, so Dani took a tentative step closer.

"Sorry 'bout that squirt", still buried in the cloak, the sound carried through.

"It's _ok_? That had to be a really bad dream right?" she stepped closer, still wary.

"Yeah", he nodded slightly, " 't was a bad one"

Clockwork and Dani shared a look, _'what the hell was bad enough for this to happen?_ '

The clone eventually reached the Older Phantom, she placed a comforting hand on his back.

"It hurts"

She removed it instantly.

"Not you, my core"

Clockwork looked down at him curiously.

"Since when did it-"

"Dunno, jus' feels like there's a _fucking scythe through my chest_ "

"How would you-"

"Long story Oldman, point is, it hurts like a bitch-"

"Alright?", the Time Master didn't look, well- his face was having trouble deciphering his emotions, he looked worried, uncomfortable and downright confused all at the same time, if it were any other moment Dani would have laughed.

"Is it a pain from an injury?"

"Doubt it Clocky"

"Does it have something to do with the fact that you won't look at me?" The child was scared and really who could blame her, he was Dan Phantom, he saw death and bloodshed aplenty, what could have possibly caused this reaction out of him?

"...maybe, jus' don't let the others come up here, especially Jazz, she was the one who got me second"

Refraining from mentioning that Jazz was indeed not present, the child agreed to prevent the others from coming up.

"Uh, yeah, n-no problem, their down there eating pasta so... um I'll go tell them", with that the clone sped off, running down the stairs.

Dan was still very much clutching onto Clockwork, the Time Master was of course very uncomfortable with the contact but let the Phantom be.

"You know", he started, hoping to ease the awkwardness, "the fact that a tiny childlike Danielle scaring one your size is quite, - _er_ strange", Clockwork winced, he wasn't good at humour unless it was sarcastic or morbid at the very least.

"Yeah, stranger when her head rolls right off and onto your foot"

The Time Keeper stiffened.

"Dan-"

"Look, I get it, it was a dumb dream-"

"Da-"

"You put a freaking _scythe_ through my chest-"

Clockwork blinked, uncomfort forgotten.

"I put a scythe straight through you and yet you're holding onto me?"

"If you didn't then I wouldn't have known it was a dream-"

"Wha-"

"I killed them"

The Time Keeper's voice died in his throat.

" _ **I killed them all**_ ", the Phantom continued, "you said you gave me a second chance, a chance at having a family and friends again"

Clockwork gave a noncommittal grunt a sign to continue and so the distraught Phantom did just that.

"The second chance was what I wanted right? But I killed them all for no reason, I didn't even do it, I just saw their stomachs ripped out and my stained claws-"

"What does that have to do with holding me?"

"There's no way in hell you'd let me hurt them, not a chance, you wouldn't wait till after they were dead-"

"Ah, so I'm the constant-"

"Yeah, so shut up", he mumbled, moving partially from out of the cloak and onto the Temporal Ghost's lap, he was still buried in a decent amount of it though, but at least his face could be seen.

This time Clockwork chuckled, it was not the usual chuckle, this had the morbid undertone of understanding in it, Dan in turn gripped him harder, rolling his eyes the Time Keeper carded his fingers through the non-aflame hair.

"You do know why your core hurts right?" asked the Time Keeper softly.

"I think so"

"It will be hard"

"Probably"

"You are going to need to apologize to Danielle for scaring the poor child"

"Yeah, probably"

Clockwork rolled his eyes again. He didn't like that Dan was being so complacent, he was much too used to the Phantom's snark.

"I'm officially blaming your behaviour on the fever that you have"

That caused the edge of the Phantom's lips to quirk a little.

"Good, that would give me a good excuse to save what's left of my pride"

 _There we go, seems like he wasn't completely gone._

"Mm yes, a small child scaring the 'Great Dan Phantom'-"

"You mean, _**very**_ great", Dan smirked this time, a small one, but it was there.

"Sure..."

It was quiet in the room, Clockwork continued to run his fingers through the others hair, awkwardness long forgotten.

* * *

"...Hey Oldman..."

"Yes?" at this point the Time Keeper had thought that Dan had fallen asleep, the Phantom was struggling to keep his eyes open not a few moments prior.

"...promise me something..."

"Didn't you tell me, you hated promises?"

" 'm makin an exception"

"Oh? So I'm _special_ , alright then, continue"

"...don't flatter yourself", Dan rolled his eyes, sometimes the Oldman was alright.

"It's just for the laughs Dan, now what is it?"

The light tone grew sombre.

"...make sure... make sure my dream never happens"

"Dan-"

The Phantom shakily sat up, he was paler than before, despite his size, he looked nothing more that the definition of **weak** but somehow he managed to look Clockwork dead in the eye.

"Promise me Oldman, promise me that you'd kill me before I kill them"

"Dan I doubt you would, you've grown far too attached to them than you ever intended, you wouldn't-"

"Clockwork I'm serious-"

"You won't-"

"Not _**willingly**_ , but who knows, Clockwork you know exactly what happens to ghosts that lose their obsession, they either fade away or destroy the thing they obsessed over in the first place, promise me dammit, I couldn't do anything the first time, but I can now, I-"

Dan was hurting, it took him this long to realize, the Time Keeper had always wanted him to figure it out, but just not like this.

"I promise"

The Phantom stopped in his rant, unwilling tears streamed down his face, Clockwork quickly wiped them away.

At the end of the day, Dan was still one of his charges, he sighed, he truly was going soft.

"I promise Dan, and I swear I'll help you out of this, you won't reach that point"

Dan chuckled morbidly, before flopping back down onto Clockwork.

"I made you promise me only _**one**_ thing Oldman, don't make a promise on top of that, especially if it's one you can't keep, or I might not trust you anymore"

"We'll see Dan, I tend to keep my promises", once more fingers were carding through hair.

"I know"

"Hey Oldman?"

"Yes?"

"I wasn't crying, got that?"

Clockwork chuckled.

"No, of course not"

-  
It took another hour but Dan had finally fallen asleep, sighing the Time Keeper continued to card his fingers through the sleeping ghost's hair, it seemed to help soothe him.

"So Dan Phantom", he said to no one in particular, "you finally figured out what your obsession was", he sighed, _"now what will you do without it?"_

* * *

 **AN/: Aaay double update! I had updated early this morning at 12 am because I didn't think I'd have time to do it later.**

 **My Anatomy lab which was 3 to 7pm was cancelled so I had time to write, Yass. A thank you to universalgoddess13 and Kim for their reviews and per their request I continued the previous chapter, hope you guys liked it. May make a part three, depends on you guys ;)**

 **Ok, imp officially settled in with uncle for now, lil' cousins are kinda pains but eh I'll live, tired as hell right now but ayy I was productive, if productive means writing about a show that had ended years ago XD.**

 **But anyway you guys know the drill, send me your requests, and I'll write 'em, ask me your questions and I'll answer them, send me your reviews and I'll smile like the little nut I am.**

 **Love yall ^-^**


	40. Hopeless Hope

**AN/: Hey guys, it be Wednesday, you know what that means update day! XD**

 **Enjoy and Review**

 **DISCLAIMER: I do not own Danny Phantom**

* * *

 **Hopeless Hope  
**

Clockwork sighed.

Positioned at his usual station in front of the Time Screens, he couldn't help but rub his eyes, he was tired and honestly you really couldn't blame him.

It's been meeting after meeting for the past few weeks, all during which the Observants constantly complained about how he was neglecting his duties. But not only that, no, they just had to conclude that it was his attachment to _his charges_ that prevented him from doing his job properly.

Sure he wasn't as glued to his Screens as he usually was, _ok that was a lie he was still glued to them as a couch potato would their TV._ He was ever the workaholic and quite frankly nothing would change that.

It was more that while he checked over time lines as often and as appropriately needed, he tended to not turn in the reports as often and as appropriately as he should, well no that was a lie too, he would turn in adequate reports on the due day, just not at the time his "employers" would like.

If they said "tomorrow", they expected it in the morning, but Clockwork would turn it in somewhere between the mid-afternoon or the early evening. They may have expected it but they never specified, that was another thing

The Ocular Ghosts have long gotten used to the Time Master turning in his reports before time rather the day it was actually due and antiquated his new found laziness with the fact he constantly remained in contact with his charges, to them the children were mere nuisances and distractions.

Clockwork thought it was less about his work and more of a control factor for the Observants, he was doing more, paying attention, teaching, listening to and laughing with all the children. _Yes that included Dan, he was even more childish than Danielle at times._

The Council didn't like that either, they were losing their cold, stoic, recluse of a Time Master of course not only were they losing their grasp on him, but Nocturne and Pandora as well.

The three Masters' together had always been a handful for the council, especially since they adamantly refused to separate from each other, at mere younglings to full grown adults they stuck together, except for that one time, the work they had to do at the aftermath of that particular event caused them to remain separate for over three millennia. Only recently have all three of them been able to make time for each other. _Maybe another event was in order?_

* * *

"There gone, we can't find them!"

"There's not a trace of them left!"

Sometimes it was hard to understand the twins, especially when they said two different things at the same time. She knew exactly what they meant though, their panic now would be nothing compared to their heartbreak later.

"I know", she said solemnly.

Their young faces were confused. She couldn't blame them, they were not old enough to know what Athens truly was, not old enough know what happens to ghosts who come to Athens, they were not old enough to know why ghosts came to Athens in the first place, so no they did not know and she would be the first to tell them. And that she did.

She told them the History of Athens, the history of the ghosts who resided there, their reasons for residing there and her role in all of it. The Twins listened attentively while she watched their cores break and tears fill their eyes, it was a sad truth to know that the place you were living in was based on lies.

* * *

Clockwork had been staring at his Screens for the past three hours, dutifully arranging the time lines and every now and again nudging people in the right direction, _indirectly of course_ , no need to hear more of the Observants' complaining.

"Hello Clockwork"

The Time Keeper turned to greet his guest with a smile, just in time to see the pink portal close behind her.

"Pan, what brings you here?"

"Oh you know", she said with a shrug and a small smirk, "just making sure you haven't collapsed because you were over working yourself again"

Clockwork sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose muttering under his breath.

"It happens one time and suddenly it's all they talk about", he looked up at Pan, who was now chuckling at him, "I swear you and Nocturne are the worst"

She winced a little but he didn't see, she simply smiled at the other, hoping for the best, how ironic, she thought bitterly.

"Maybe, but you love us"

"Unfortunately", the Temporal Ghost shook his head fondly, it was always easy to talk to Pan, but for some reason, it felt...off.

"Hey, we don't complain about y-Clockwork what's wrong?" she was getting worried, he was staring at her as if she was going to fall apart.

"I should be asking you that-", his tone changed from jovial to stern so quickly it left her confused.

"What?"

"That smile of yours, there's something wrong, it's fake", it wasn't a glare but it was pretty close to one, "you can fool anyone else but not me Pan, I've known you for far too long, now tell me the truth, what happened?"

To her credit she didn't give anything away, but she didn't say anything either and that was all the conformation Clockwork needed.

"Pan", his voice was soft now, she would have preferred it with an edge, it would have been easier if he would sound mad.

The Time Keeper watched as Pandora's facade broke, her fists shook, her hair flayed as the flames flickered, her aura though not seen, just screamed depression, fluctuating up then diving straight down, the feeling of it made Clockwork uneasy.

Slowly he walked over to her and gently grabbed her hand, it was still shaking, he ushered her to the couch where they sat together. He rubbed soothing circles on the back of her palm with his thumb, she didn't say anything but he would wait and listen till she did.

* * *

"I told them..."

It had taken a good ten minutes for Pandora to speak, the Time Keeper had waited patiently beside her, still rubbing circles.

"I told the twins", she exhaled, "I told them what Athens is"

It clicked, suddenly the Warrior's behaviour made a lot of sense, Pandora always came to him when something like this happened, in for lack of a better term, her kingdom.

"Someone faded?" it wasn't a question more like a small statement.

"No..."

The Temporal Ghost raised a brow.

Pan's breath hitched.

"It was an entire family", she ignored the wide crimson eyes beside her, clenching her fists into her "skirt" as the Time Keeper subconsciously moved closer.

"They just- they just vanished into _nothing",_ she turned to Clockwork with watery eyes, "gone without a trace".

"Pan..."

"They were my personal guards, I should be happy for them, they didn't leave on a battle field, they went together with their children"

"Pan..." he said again softly.

" _I didn't even know they had children_ , you know what this means now Clockwork?"

The Time Master looked at her expectantly, she would tell him regardless if he answered or not.

"The Twins are now the head of my personal guard"

Her breath hitched some more.

"They're not even 10 centuries old yet Clockwork, they're as much children as your charges are and for them to-", she cut her self-off, throwing her helmet down and placing her head in her hands, "they had to find out-", she choked, "th-they had to find out that the ghosts they looked up to the most faded away into nothing because of me"

Her head remained buried in her hands as she was hunched over her knees on the couch, Clockwork frowned as he rubbed her back, it always hurt him to see her like this.

"Pan it's not your fault-"

She lifter her head so fast the Time Keeper had to lean back to avoid a collision.

"It's always been my fault, it's the entire reason why ghosts go to Athens in the first place! I just- I...", her distress grew more apparent as her upper hands were gripping on either side of her a hair and her lower two were pulling at her face.

Clockwork sighed, it was hard seeing her like this, Pan was usually the most level headed of the three of them, to see her breaking down...

"Do you want me to switch forms?" it was worth a shot, his youngest form always comforted her for some reason.

she stopped for a minute to try to compose herself, _tried._

"I- yes, th-that would help"

With a nod the Time Keeper was now a toddler and she quickly pulled him onto her lap, her body shook as she buried her head on the crook of his shoulder, Clockwork knew very well that she wasn't crying, it was Pan after all, but she was still upset and rightfully so.

"I knew them for eons, _they knew each other for that long_ ", it was only because she was mumbling in his cloak allowed him to hear her at all, her voice was so soft, barely a whisper, but the Time Keeper played the good teddy bear and listened, occasionally patting the two arms that were locked snugly around his waist.

"I was so happy for them when they became life mates, their wedding, it was beautiful, they were so happy- I didn't, I didn't think that two days after, they would...", she choked again, feeling to little pats on her arm she tried her best to kept going, "I didn't know they adopted children, two little younglings, they had apparently rescued them from, from something, I don't remember what it was but it had left the two as orphans-", she exhaled once more and descended into bitter laughter.

"I guess in hindsight it was obvious, the children wanted a family and my guardians wanted unconditional love, a perfect match for happiness once said and done", Pan laughed again, bitter gone _**acrid.**_

"I-I keep forgetting, they're not like us, they fade away so quickly, even your charges will one day", she sat up to face him, her eyes were still watery but her face was dry, "how do you do it Clockwork? How do you live with knowing that once they fulfil or find their obsession, their one desire, they'll just disappear?"

The Time Keeper turned and wrapped his small arms as far as they could go around her waist.

"That won't happen, not yet at least-"

"What happens when they do? Neither of us know what happens to ghosts who fade, they're happy enough they fade away, they're sad enough they cease to exist, either way we don't know where they end up, it's just-"

"It's not your fault Pan-"

"Yes it is! Athens is the home of the Hopeless-"

 _"Was,_ you are the Guardian now, _**the Master of Hope**_ "

"Some Guardian I am, I'm the reason they end up there in the first place, every ghost that has ever lost hope or lost their way has made it to Athens-"

"Yes, they do, but they all end up happy-"

"They end up _fading_ Clockwork, drawn to me like a moth to a flame and what's worse, I feed on them until they disappear"

"We're going into feeding now Pan? Really? Of all things I swear", the small Time Keeper facepalmed. If it were any other day Pandora would have chuckled.

"Yes you feed on the hopelessness of others but you give them hope in return, that hope is what allows them to fulfil their obsessions in the first place, it's the same with Nocturne, he gives good dreams and feeds on the energy it creates, I literally destroy portals whole, what are _you_ complaining about?"

This time the Guardian really did chuckle, Clockwork looked absolutely adorable pouting in his youngest form, she hugged him a bit before slightly loosening her hold but for some odd reason she felt compelled to run her fingers through his hair.

He rolled his eyes but leaned to the touch all the same, "better?"

"A bit"

"That's fine, you've known them almost as long as you've known me- speaking of, do you want me to go with you when you tell the others?"

"No, the Twins would have by now, it's funny really", she paused to uncurl a long white lock, "I'm more afraid of finding out what the Twins think of me now, than addressing me guards-"

"Honestly Pan, you've made Athens into a great place and you're a wonderful leader-"

"It's _literally_ a death trap-"

"You know what? Fine", Clockwork phased away from her hold, he didn't go far, actually he was still on her lap, the stern look didn't match his current size, "Yes it's all your fault-"

"Wh-what?"

"It's your fault that hopeless ghosts go to Athens, it your fault that Athens is a great place and it's your fault that almost everyone there is happy, so yes it's your fault, now tell me _**why**_ exactly is that a bad thing?"

Pandora stared at him for a moment, before laughing, it was a genuine laugh despite her watery eyes, after calming down a bit, she smiled at him and pulled him back into a hug, "You are an awful motivational speaker, you know that?"

"Yes I am, but it got you to laugh didn't it?

"Unfortunately", she chuckled.

 _"Sure"_

* * *

They spent hours simply talking on the couch. Clockwork was now laying on Pan's lap having long shifted out of his young form, it took too much energy to maintain the illusion for that long, that and he was far too relaxed, Pandora was still running her fingers through his hair.

"Don't you find it weird that I would talk to you about a non-confrontational problem and Nocturne about a confrontational problem?"

"I do the same thing...I talk to you about the non-confrontable and Nocturne for ways not to get caught while confronting certain situations.

The Greek woman laughed, "and Nocturne comes to either of us when he wants to grumble about things he can't confront, we're an oddly balanced trio-"

"Of ***yawn*** course we are...it's the Hopes and Dreams and ***yawn*** the Time it takes to fulfil them.

"You're going to fall asleep on me aren't you", she said looking fondly down at him.

"Mm it depends..."

"On?"

"How you're feeling"

"That's sweet of you, I'm _better_ I guess, I'll handle it but I'll probably still end up right back here when someone else goes"

"Just like...I end up at Athens when I can't stop...'ff from 'apening..."

"Stuff? What stuff?"

The Time Keeper shrugged, "Stuff, I ***yawn*** can't, change..."

"You're mumbling Clockwork, when was the last time you slept?"

"When... was the last time you came over?..."

"New Year's Clockwork, today's the 18th you haven't slept in over two weeks?"

" 'parently"

"Timelines that bad?"

" 'n meetings and paper ***yawn*** work, 'ts always the paperwork..."

"You poor thing"

"Mhm, don' patronize me"

Pan just laughed.

They spent another hour talking, well the Guardian was talking, Clockwork was mumbling replies.

"You're still awake?"

"...kinda..."

Pan leaned over to see him, "you're losing the fight with your eyelids-"

" n' kno"

"Why don't you just slee-"

 **"Clockwork!"**

The loud voice cause both of them to jump. Being on one of the few corner screens, the Observant couldn't see them, before either _could_ do anything, the Citadel ended the transmission, chiming in frustration at the one eyed Ghost.

Clockwork groaned and curled further onto Pan's lap, "Sleep would be a _wonderful_ idea, but I have to go deal with _**that",**_ the Time Keeper made an odd hand gesture to the general area of where the Observant had appeared on screen.

"And yet you're still on my lap"

"Mhm", he let his eyes slip close.

Pandora rolled her eyes and tapped his cheeks. She chuckled when he looked up at her and pouted.

"Don't pout, I would let you sleep but one of them might come here to yell at you"

Clockwork sighed sitting up, "probably, I'm trying to figure out what they want from me now, I already have a meeting with them in the morning, Nocturne's getting dragged to that too and-", he paused then facepalmed.

"What happened?"

"Tomorrow is the day I told Danielle I would help her train, but with the meeting-"

"I can train her tomorrow"

"Are you sure?"

"Of course, I'll even ask the Twins if they'd like to help, after I talk to them about today that is"

"Alright, tell me how it goes with them, but I highly doubt that they'll think any less of you, as a matter of fact I think they'll think you even greater than they did before"

"I hope so"

* * *

"Mistress, there you are!"  
"We were looking all over for you!"

"Oh, hello children", she tried her best to keep her surprise from showing, honestly she expected them to never speak to her again.

"We told the others what happened"  
"They were sad and happy at the same time"

Pandora raised a brow.

"Two of our own have left us, but not without teaching us with their knowledge and love, they did what all ghosts want to do"

"They're going to that great battlefield in the beyond"

Pan smiled, honestly these children, "that they are Ro, that they are.

"Mistress", piped the girl

"Yes Gree?"

"Who is the new head of your personal guard?"

"That depends"

"On what mistress?" asked the Twins simultaneously.

"It depends on if they accept the position or not"

"Anyone you choose would be happy to accept Mistress!"

"Of course! But who are you going to choose? Would it be Pa-"

Pandora cut them off, "it's you two"

"What?!"

"That is of course if you accept"

The Twins stared at her, gaping.

Internally the older Guardian flinched, she knew they wouldn't want-

"Of course we accept", the girl's voice was soft.  
"But why did you choose us Mistress? her brother's was just as soft.

"Because, you've earned it, you both have the skills and ability, the only thing is your age, but we can work around that, can't we?"

If the Guardian had any more to say the Twins cut her off right that instant with a hug, she hugged them both, glad they didn't hate her.

"Mistress", they said.

"Yes?"

"We wanted to thank you for telling us what Athens was and what you did"

 _Oh,there it is._

"We thought you were an amazing Ghost before-"

"But now we know the truth-"

"You're not an amazing ghost-", they said together.

 _She **knew** this was coming._

"You're the greatest and kindest Ghost we have ever met and we are honoured to be the head of your guard"

 _Wait what?_

She blinked, these two despite all the things still thought she watched great- to the Ghost Zone and back she was going to kill Clockwork, he had quoted the Twins exactly, the damn bastard.

"Alright, you two", she still couldn't help but smile, "we can inform the others of your promotion the day after tomorrow"

"What's tomorrow?" they asked.

"Tomorrow, I train my niece"

"The Halfa girl"  
"Can we help?"

"Of course, if can you come up with simple basic training program for her in the morning?"

Their armour clanked slightly as the stood steadfast and gave her a salute.

* * *

 **Bonus:**

The Time Master stood in front of his screens, he had used it as a telecom and was waiting for the other person to accept the transmission, they did.

"Hey Pan"

"Clockwork, how was the meeting today?"

"As redundant and boring as usual. But that's not why I called"

"I figured, what's wrong?"

The Time Keeper scratched at his hair.  
"Remember that question you asked me yesterday?"

"Which one-" her eyes widened, Danielle was with her all day so that meant- "is Daniel ok? He's half human, shouldn't that stop him from fading away for some time?"

"It should, but it's the other Daniel, Dan's fading-"

"How fast?"

"Slowly actually, he's weak but stable for now it seems"

"Hmm, a slow fading is better than an instant one I suppose, how did he figure it out?"

"I'm not sure actually, I mean I knew this day would come, just not this early or in this manner", once more the Time Keeper sighed, scratching at his hair, "leave a Danielle alone and you won't find her for at least a week, leave a Daniel alone and in ten years he turns into a monster, Leave Dan alone for half a day and he has an existential crisis, why are all my charges so-"

"Needy? Children always are Clockwork, on the bright side Dan still has a chance-"

"I know that, he know what his obsession is, he has what he wanted, it's what he does with that knowledge that counts"

"That is tru-"

Pandora was cut off by a scream.

"That would be Dan and one of his nightmares "

"Is he ok?-"

"Well he did have a fever-"

Pan's face twisted and her voice grew stern.

"Clockwork, are you telling me you left a fevered, child alone"

"What- no I- ...damn it"

"Go help him Clockwork"

"I'm going, I'm going"

"He'll be alright"

"We'll see Pan"

"We'll see then Clockwork"

With that the transmission was ended and Clockwork braced himself to save the Phantom from the depths of his mind.

Was it Hopeless? Maybe but it was hope.

* * *

 **AN/: Hey guys, so this was part three of "Left out",** _ **or a part one since it is the prequel**_ **and yes before you ask there will be a part four ;)**

 **Ok, so a lot of shit happened this week, they stole my bike from school, my Chem teacher decided that being a bitch would be a** _ **wonderful**_ **thing, my little cousin is being a bitch because she got sent to an all-girls school, absolutely her fault by the way- ok so let's just say things are a bit messed up right now, but on the plus side I'm getting a beta reader, who I must apologize to for not sending this chapter in for a proper proof reading but I was kinda procrastinating so… yeah.**

 **On a brighter note**

 **Poly and I started what we call the "Break down Challenge", where we write about our selected characters breaking down, as you can see I had Pandora, I also got, Sam, Dani and Dan, poly has CW, Nocturne, Star and any of the A-listers, so we'll see how this goes.**

 **But anyway you guys know the drill, send me your requests, and I'll write 'em, ask me your questions and I'll answer them, send me your reviews and I'll smile like the little nut I am.**

 **Love yall ^-^**


	41. Follow

**AN/: Hey guys, it be Wednesday, you know what that means update day! XD**

 **Enjoy and Review**

 **DISCLAIMER: I do not own Danny Phantom**

* * *

 **Follow**

It started off pretty normal actually, well _normal_ for them at least.

* * *

Danny yelled as he was tossed straight into a nearby building, landing groaning heap only to be covered in the falling debris. Dani having long done the same, was just sticking her head out from the rubble, groaning in pain as she placed a hand to stem the green ectoplasm trickling down her forehead.

Sam was still going, covering for both Phantoms as she blasted back the ghostly reptile-like beast with her blaster. The Goth's aim was well over impressive as she had yet to miss her mark even though she was dodging the large sharp claws headed her way.

Honestly, reptile-like was the best way to describe it, huge, green and scaly, four red eyes and a terrifying snout with a ton razor sharp teeth, the thing had so many teeth, that majority of them were sticking out of its mouth.

Well they would be, Danny had managed to ice the creature's mouth shut thanks to Dani's distraction, unfortunately for her, she had forgotten about its tail and ended up getting launched into a building. Of course we know Danny later followed, but not until after he ensured that the beast's mouth was frozen solid.

Just because the thing's mouth was shut, it didn't mean it would stay quiet, the creature growled loudly, sound echoing painfully through the ice, the pain caused by the noise was enough to put Dan Phantom's Ghostly wail to a shame. It had smashed its head across a few buildings before but the cold crystal held strong.

Sam kept shooting at it, offering herself as a distraction so the other two could recover.

"Hey guys, hate to be that person", she shouted over the noise, "but there's no way I can hold Dora's wanna be cousin for long-"

"You're doing great Sam, just hold on a little longer and there's no way that thing is related to Dora-"

"Tucker the thing literally looks like a dragon with no wings, I said it's a _wanna be_ and what are you even doing over there?"

"Offering moral support", shouted the techno geek with a roll of his eyes, "What does it look like I'm doing? I'm helping you guys defeat this thing!"

Tucker had ripped the sleeves off his signature yellow shirt and had wrapped them around his hands like gloves, looking down Sam could see that her dark skinned friend was arranging about six to eight live wires around the beast all while somehow staying unseen by the creature.

Apparently when Dani ended up getting launched into a building, she brought down some live wires from the three lampposts that came tumbling down and Danny brought down the rest during his fall.

The electricity crackled as the Techno geek ran to place them in position.

"It's High heat and high voltage Sam, just keep it busy"

"You better know what you're doing Tuck"

"Hey it's better than nothing!"

"True", with that the Goth kept blasting.

* * *

"Of course it gets jammed!"

Sam grumbled, hitting the base of the Fenton blaster in hopes of getting it to work. "Damn crappy upgrades", before she decided to simply drop the fun and run, she felt a hot breathe on her neck.

Looking up she saw the beast looming above her, everything froze, the creature seemed to laugh.

Not one to be made fun of or be turned into a Gothic pancake, Sam "spy" rolled down a couple feet and in one smooth move, grabbed the weapon she had tucked in the back of her skirt and aimed it straight at the monster.

It was a mini ray gun.

It was quite small, smaller than her signature wrist ray even, this time the monster really did laugh, well as best as laughter can be when there's a good chunk of ice around your mouth.

The Goth girl narrowed her violet eyes and pulled the trigger.

The reptile thing went flying back at the force of the blast, unfortunately for Sam she did aswell, luckily Danny had recovered enough to catch her before she hit anything.

"Woah, I'll take back what I said about those upgrades" she raised the small smoking gun at eye level, "oh this is gonna be my favourite thing"

Danny who was still holding her by her shoulders shrugged, "sure Sam, just learn to fly first"

"Hey-"  
Before Sam could continue Tucker cut her off.

"Hey love birds, that thing is getting back up!"

The warning was called and Danny wasted no time in speeding over to Tucker with Sam still in his arms, the beast's tail came crashing down right where they were not two seconds ago.

When the two reached the techno geek Dani was already there.

"So what's the plan Tuck?"

"How good is your control of re-freezing and melting your ice at will?"

"Pretty good actually", said the Phantoms simultaneously.

Tucker smirked.

* * *

"Hey, you over grown Gecko! Over here!"

Sam was waving her arms to get the creature's attention.

It worked. Too well.

The reptilian ghost began chasing the Goth and she booked a sprint down the road.

"Guys! I think it's mad at me, I didn't switch my car insurance to Geico!"

"Jesus Christ Sam, that's worse than one of my puns", shouted Tucker from his hiding spot.

"Hey I saw the opportunity and took it"

"I can respect that- GUYS NOW!"

Sam took a dive off to the side, instantly the roads were frozen, the Giant creature slid and slipped on the ice, sliding backwards just as planned.

"MELT IT!"

"We're on it!"

Danny and Dani dropped their invisibility and touched the ice, instantly the solid crystal turned to liquid. With the change of substance under its feet the reptile-like ghost fell back.

Right on the live wires.

The creature screamed so loud the ice around its mouth finally broke, it didn't seem to care as the electric pain spread throughout its ectoplasmic body.

Ectoplasm, was apparently a _**wonderful**_ conductor of electricity.

Too wonderful before any of them could capture it in the thermos, the reptile-like ghost exploded.

Ectoplasm went everywhere, covering buildings, cars and _especially_ them.

"Well that happened", blinked the Techno geek.

"Yep", said the Phantoms.

"Sooo..." started Sam, "shower and Doom smash sesh?"

"Alright! Custom level here we come!"

The others simply laughed at Tucker's excitement. Fondly shaking their heads but very much enjoying the thought of a nice shower and some good R&R.

They didn't go far when Danny and Dani suddenly gasped, a wisp of blue as their ghost sense was triggered, they looked around but seeing nothing they chalked it up to being covered in ectoplasm, shrugging they continued with the other two.

With all of them walking away from their very obvious green mess, no one noticed when a shapeless green figure zoomed passed and attached itself to something _shiny_ in Tucker's back pocket.

* * *

The day of "being hero" and playing doom was _**great,**_ he even beat the level!

"Two wins in one day, ya did good Foley, ya did good"

With the proverbial pats on his back given, the techno geek took off his glasses and climbed into bed. He placed his frames on the nightstand and was about to turn to his side to get some well-deserved sleep.

He stopped cold.

Being best friends with ghosts, well ghosts and two half ghosts, taught him a thing or two, sure he didn't have a ghost sense like either of the Phantoms did but he could sure as hell tell you when a ghost was near, there was no mistaking that feeling.

There was a ghost in his room and it _wasn't_ Danny.

* * *

 **AN\: aay what's up guys? I'll make this a part of the Pieces arc just so I can finally say I've done something for it XD it's part two is more of a lead up to 'Little Game', so don't worry Kim I didn't forget you, actually I think you'll like part two to this aswell ;). This was requested by _Zeplynskyelarg_ , sorry this was so short but don't worry buddy that's why there _will_ be a part 2 but Chem test is the first thing in the morning bro, mercy on my soul.**

 **By the way guys, Zeplyn is actually my partner in a DP collab and a really good friend of mine, unfortunately I can't give any details as yet, we're still working on it, title and all, but hey, we will get there eventually! XD.**

 **Ok so raise of hands, who saw Butch's new video? I'm definitely writing something with all that new information, actually I was going to do that today and it was going to be called 'Math the Distance' _buuuut_ y'all can request anything regarding the new things that came up.**

 **(I'm not mentioning it here because I know three people who read this and don't know about the vid, so they get a week to watch it) Nah I'm kidding I might update tomorrow depending on how chemistry treats me ¯\\_(ツ)_/.**

 **As for the SIN, that will be coming when I get a break from school, but I'll be finishing the final five or six chapters of Hunger first, this will explain how Dan is out, why Dani is staying and isn't flying all over the place and _maybe_ how the Fenton parents react to having both Dani and Dan in their presence, or I could do the last part here ;)**

 **Once Hunger is finished then comes the SIN, of course update day is still Wednesday, so you get two things on a Wednesday during break, huzzah!**

 **But anyway you guys know the drill, send me your requests, and I'll write 'em, ask me your questions and I'll answer them, send me your reviews and I'll smile like the little nut I am.**

 **Love yall ^-^**


	42. Choice

**AN/: Hey guys, it's been a hell of a Wednesday**

 **Enjoy and Review**

 **DISCLAIMER: I do not own Danny Phantom**

* * *

 **Choice**

"Dan you don't have to do this!" Screamed Dani in panic.

The girl pleaded, her little green eyes frantic as tears streamed down her face.

"She's right Dan, please, you're better than this, please"

Jasmine was crying now too.

Jazz, always being a sister no matter what-no she wasn't his sister anymore, but she still treated him like a part of her family.

Dani had even gone as far as to call him her older brother once-

His younger sel- _Danny_ was holding on to Sam and Tucker, they've always been his support.

All this time he had his eyes closed and his head down. He smiled, fangs grazing his lower lip.

He had one of two choices.

He opened his eyes.

* * *

Cracking like the ground would in an earth quake, splitting right down the middle forming a wedge from the "sky" to the "floor".

It divided into a perfectly jagged half, it was _there_ his choices were presented to him.

On the left, like the static of an old film, the grainy image of him at his "death bed", Dani and Jazz pleading for him to stay as his body slowly faded out of existence.

On the right, the was an alternate scene, his "death bed" was there, but he was not on it, instead he was standing, towering above the girls as they pleaded for him to stay back.

Dan watched floating in the center of the split.

"Fucking hell man, can't get damn HD quality even in my dreams, bullshit at its finest", he muttered, crossing his arms unimpressed.

He continued watching.

The left Danny, Sam and Tucker were standing in the background, silent.

On the right they were silent, on the floor and dead, his claws were stained with their blood and ectoplasm, bodies strewn on the floor with their empty eyes open, all while he reminded menacingly above the girls with clawed hand raised, about to end their lives. He swiped, but instead of cutting through flesh, his claws hit sharp metal and they broke.

The Phantom howled in pain, cradling his arm to himself, he watched as his broken claws quickly regenerated before glaring at the Time Master who had ruined his plans, Clockwork's scythe was blocking his access to the girls.

He glared and growled all primal at the Time Keeper before charging at him, all he heard was the Oldman telling the girls to close their eyes.

 _ **Squelch**_

A final whimper was heard, as Dan Phantom dropped to the floor.

Dani screamed and cried and Jazz turned to the side losing her lunch. Clockwork sighed, his cloak was covered in the other's ectoplasm, it wasn't after he phased it off did he realize that Dan had managed to injure him, a large claw shaped gash, that was closing as he watched it.

Sighing once more the Time Keeper knelt, placing a hand on the still body, "How pitiful, the last mark you made wouldn't so much as scar, physically at least", Clockwork shook his head, " you asked me to Dan, a simple request, honestly having me break my promise isn't the only scar you would have left, now the rest of us suffer for you"

The Dan watching winced but quickly recovered.

"Oh yeah Oldman? You were late, if you weren't late the Kid, the Goth and the Geek would be alright, if you weren't la-", his voice cracked, "you're _never_ late"

He pulled back in realization, floating and bobbing in the air all while he was morbidly looking at both scenes as they constantly repeated over and over again.

He hated this, on one side he detested the way the girls looked at him, sad and remorseful or absolutely terrified, these were the two who put up with him and accepted him, Sociopathic tendencies and all, on the other hand, _the afore mentioned sociopathic_ _tendencies_ , their screams, blood and tears both excited him and disgusted him at the same time.

He was a murderer and a brother but he couldn't be both, how ironic, for all the time he knew, he'd always been a half of something, between both worlds, but the one time he needed to be of two things, he could only be _**one**_.

So Dan Phantom had a choice to make, but either way...  
 _ **  
He'd die.**_

* * *

 _...tick...tock..._

...tick...tock...

...tick...tock...

Bleary red eyes opened, well one did, he was laying down so the other remained closed, not that it bothered him, it was a normal occurrence to anyone who woke up and didn't want to move speaking of, _why was he awake?_

The sound of light ticking breached his ears, having tuned it out completely, he almost jumped when he heard the small sound above him, how far gone was he that he forgot he was living in a clock tower?

 _Wait, above?  
_  
Slowly lifting his head the Phantom found the source of the ticking, his cheeks coloured as he realized what-no who it was.

The Master of Time was sitting up on his bed, and he, Dan Phantom, was undoubtedly laying on Clockwork's lap, pillow beneath his non-fiery head, right under a glass case containing the source of the ticking.

Dan gave a small mix of a huff and an embarrassed grunt, luckily for him the Time Keeper was asleep, saving him from further embarrassment, well not self-embarrassment.

It didn't help that Clockwork had one of his hands resting on the small of his shoulder, meaning that at one point he was clutching on the Temporal Ghost, probably the result of a nightmare.

The Phantom scowled, but he could feel his blush darkening, he was a grown man and yet he found himself clutching onto another like a scared child would their parent.

Looking up from his position, he could clearly see the other's face. Lips slightly parted, cheeks slack bearing neutral expression, Dan could easily hear the Temporal Ghost's light breathing, even over the sound of the ticking.

Dan had no idea why spirits breathed, especially since they _clearly_ didn't need to, it also bought up a memory regarding how human like they behaved even though most of them tend to stay far away from humans, believe it or not he knew _quite_ a few spirits that snored.

Thankfully Clockwork was not one of them, either way he still needed to wake the other up if he wished to move, the Time Keeper held him gently but firmly in place.

"Might as well get this over with", mumbled the Phantom with a roll of his eyes, "Hey Oldman!"

* * *

Alright he'd admit, he flinched.

Not his fault though.

The Oldman tends to do that freaky aura thing when he's startled. Fucking scares everybody else too, the inconsiderate asshole, _humph_.

When Clockwork's eyes rolled open, they were solid blue, of course this is exactly what caused the Phantom on his lap to flinch.

Blinking himself awake, (and his aura away), the Time Keeper looked down at his charge, brow raised and crimson eyes curious.

"How are you feeling Dan?"

"Shouldn't I ask you that? You look like hell"

The Paradox wasn't wrong, the bag's on the elder's face were more prominent than they'd ever been, the poor guy looked like he either needed some coffee or to sleep for a thousand years, _probably both._

"You're one to talk", remarked the Temporal Ghost as he rubbed his eyes, just because he could wake up coherent didn't mean he wasn't still sleepy. "You're still on my lap-"

"No, you were holding me-"

"I let go the second I woke, you had time to move"

"Whatever", the Phantom rolled his eyes and sat up as best he could, he was still quite weak, his muscles or what was left of them, shook under the strain.

Eventually Clockwork grew tired of the pitiful display and simply helped the Phantom into a proper sitting position, Dan of course didn't like this at all.

"I'm not an invalid", he huffed.

"Not yet, at least"

"Gee, thanks for the vote of confidence ya bastard"

The Time Master shrugged, "you know it all boils down to your choices-"

"Yeah I know, I only got two"

Clockwork chuckled, Dan gave him an incredulous look.

"What the fuck's so funny Oldman? I'm literally fading away here-!"

"Who said you only have two choices? How long have you been here Dan? Shouldn't you know by now that I don't invest in hopeless cases-"

"And what the fuck is that supposed to mea-"

"It means there are other options Daniel-"

"Don't call me that, it's _**Dan**_ , get it through your thick skull, and what do you mean other choices? I either do nothing and fade away or do something and get a fucking scythe through my core and then fade away"

Clockwork smirked and got up from the bed, "Ah but that's the thing, you're only looking at the two things on the surface, there's a deeper-"

"Cut the crap Clockwork, just tell me straight up, what options do I have?"

"I can't tell you Dan-"

" _I need to know dammit_!"

If it weren't for that slight bit of desperation in the Phantom's voice and eyes-

The Time Keeper sighed, _**'I truly am getting soft'**_.

"Well you know the first two-"

"Obviously", the Phantom swallowed thickly, for some reason his eyes stung and there was a lump in his throat.

Clockwork sighed again, he couldn't tell the other directly, that would get him in even more trouble than he was currently in, the entire council was still wrapping their heads around the idea of why he wanted to keep his "pet"- _**pet**_.

"You know, to many you're still known as the 'The Hound' right?"

"No", corrected Dan, " I'm known as the 'Time Master's Hound', big difference and there's no way in hell I'm switching my obsession to servitude"

Clockwork raised a brow. "Since when have I ever-"

"Not you Oldman but the title implies, it makes others think I'm your slave or something"

"That or something is what keeps the Observants off your back and when have you ever cared what other people think?"

"I..."

"Exactly"

"I still don't want that option-"

"Good, because making that official wouldn't be fun for either of us", the Time Ghost ran a hand across his face.

"Do I even wanna know?"

"No, no you don't"

The non-answer made Dan feel even more uncomfortable than he already was, he swallowed again.

" _So_..." he started, his voice cracked, "What's my next-"

"You need to remember what your obsession was"

"What? I thought I figured that out, it's how I got into this mess in the first place-"

"Mm, yes but no, you scratched the surface of your obsession-"

"My friends and family-"

"Yes but what about them?"

"I..."

"It's quite simple really, you often tease your younger self about it quite a lot, actually we all do-"

"Wha-?" Dan huffed and crossed his arms, "you never give straight answers when we need you to, do you?"

Clockwork shrugged.

"This one is your best bet, but you need to do a bit of thinking-"

"Thinking? Clockwork, I've been thinking since yesterday-"

"Monday you mean-"

"What?"

"You've been asleep for thirty-eight hours, twenty-seven minutes and three point two six seconds-"

The Phantom gawked.

"I've been asleep for 2 days?!"

"Well not exactly, you've woken once or twice in delirium, and then there were the nightmares-"

Dan cut him off with an odd hand gesture.

"I'm guessing that's how I ended up on your lap?

The Time Keeper nodded.

"And that's also why you look like you haven't slept in a year?"

Clockwork rolled his eyes, "your fever adamantly refused to go down Tuesday, it didn't break till four hours ago"

"You're kidding-"

"I wish I was, I stayed up watching you since you fell ill", the Temporal Ghost then smirked, "you were kicking and screaming the whole way, if I had _actual_ neighbours they'd wonder who's infant I was babysitting"

Dan's cheeks coloured, "oh fuck you".

* * *

 **AN/: Heyo, sorry this one was a bit short, the last one for this whole Dan debacle or the "Left out arc" should be coming soon, then again I said that about the pieces arc, so we'll see ^_^'**

 **Also apologies to Johnathen, I've been trying to work on your 'Wedgie Ghost' buddy but for some reason ideas won't come, it's such a simple request and yet I can't wrap up enough inspiration to get it down. P.S if you have any other DP ideas I'm up for it buddy**

 **That actually brings me to this entire note tonight, this week, (it literally just goddamn started), was just hell, apologies for complaining in every other AN but I really wanna keep you guys updated. Don't worry I won't stop updating and I won't stop updating every Wednesday either, just kinda apologizing if my work starts to seem all lacklustre and stuff.  
**

 **I've been failing tests left and right so far, it's the first test for each subject as it is a new semester but it's killing my soul, I'm gonna make sure I bring up those grades because my report rn looks like I only know what the 6th letter of the alphabet is and If you had to count your fingers or sing the song, then shame on you aswell XD, nah I'm kidding love you ;)**

 **Last apology, I was supposed to post this earlier, but I had a major anxiety attack, and I blacked out, so guess who legit just woke up at 11:07pm! I came home around 3 man,** _ **life**_ **.  
Anyway that's about that, I'm still writing they just might be shorter, I'm thinking of delaying the pieces arc because that's supposed to be long af pieces, but we'll see, I'll gladly take requests though, writing helps me deal with stress, and I've been stressing out as you can see, so lemme type stuffs XD. **


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